


A Conflict of Parallels

by WeBuiltThePyramids



Series: Afterward [3]
Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Babies, F/M, Family, Family Drama, M/M, Pregnancy, Quintis - Freeform, Ralph heavy fic, Some angst, Waige - Freeform, abortion references, cw for some serious injuries to a major character at one point, more Waige than Quintis but they're there, no actual abortions (promise)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-03-05 22:58:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 54
Words: 92,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13398075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeBuiltThePyramids/pseuds/WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: The apple had fallen far from the tree.  Until it didn't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about writing this fic for a while. I've had some reservations about it, some of which will become clear to you as you read. I've decided to publish it after a lot of thought, because I do think there are parallels here that would be really interesting to explore, even though the show will likely not go on long enough for this to ever actually be in the cards.

It had been a week since Mother's Day, a realization Paige had when she noticed that the cards she'd gotten were still sitting up on the TV stand. She hadn't dusted since the night before the holiday and it was definitely time to take the cards down and tidy up. Rising from her desk, Paige crossed the living room and gathered the cards up, meandering down the hall to her bedroom and pulling the appropriate box out from the top of her closet. She had made it a habit, since her father had gotten sick, to save all of the cards she was sent.

She set the cards and box on the bed and wiggled the cover off. Last month's birthday cards were on top, and Paige stopped for a moment, noticing the bright blue one with the sparkling ladybugs on it.

Bri.

Paige remembered what it said inside.  _Happy birthday, Mrs. O'Brien. I hope thirty – six treats you great!_  The card had been sent only weeks before. Back when Ralph was still dating the girl. Back when Paige still genuinely believed that her son had found someone great and had things way more together at seventeen than she had.

Well, overall, he very probably still had things more together than she did when she was his age. It just turned out that Bri wasn't a part of that.

Her motherly intuition wasn't often wrong. But Brianna Schultz sure had had Paige fooled. For an entire year and a half.

She was tempted to rip the card up and throw it in a coffee can with a match.  _Thirty – six will treat me great,_ she thought,  _because you're not in my life – or my son's – anymore._  But instead of tearing it up, she put the card underneath all the others. Soon, as more piled on top, her anniversary, the shower, the holidays, the last tangible evidence of Bri's involvement in her life would be buried.

And good riddance.

She knocked on her son's door as she headed back to the living room. "School starts in twenty minutes!"

The door opened almost immediately behind her, and Ralph followed her down the hall, his backpack over his shoulders. "When have I ever been late for school, Mom?"

"The other week when you and Walter got pre – occupied pulling apart your classmate's website design."

"It was still a learning experience!"

Paige rolled her eyes. Her son was well into his teenaged years, he shaved, he had nearly reached his adult height, and his voice had deepened years ago, but when he got defensive over something he and Walter had been up to, he reminded her so much of when he was younger. "You still need to get to school on time."

"College isn't like grade school, Mom. You can still get great grades when you miss class. Okay, okay," he said off of her glare. "I've got my backpack, I was already about to leave."

"Good, get out of here," she said, teasingly making a shooing motion with her hand. Ralph rolled his eyes, but she could see a corner of his mouth turn up as he turned and headed toward the front door.

After her son was gone, Paige went into his room, dumping his hamper into the laundry basket. He was great at helping her cook, at washing the dishes, at keeping his room clean and at doing his homework, traits she knew she was blessed to have in a teenager. But no matter how many times she reminded him, he always forgot that she did laundry on Thursday mornings and she wanted all the clothes he wanted her to wash in the laundry room by then.

That was something that both of the male humans she lived with had an issue with.

"Oh," Paige said in surprise when she entered the tiny laundry room to see Walter sorting his clothing. "Somebody is on top of things today."

"Well, you know," he said, sliding his arm around her back for a quick hug, "figured I should start doing more to make things easier on you."

"Pssssh," Paige said, swatting him with a sock, "I spent seven years raising Ralph alone on the brink of poverty, everything now is a cake walk."

"Really?" He asked, drawing out the word and raising his eyebrows.

"Don't worry," she said, hugging his arm and resting her head on his shoulder, "you're a critical part of my life, and you make things insurmountably better."

"If you say so," he teased. She lifted her head and kissed him, both of them grinning. "But you're still proud of me for the laundry thing, right?"

"Am I proud of you for remembering to do the one thing I always ask for you to do on Thursdays?" She asked, lifting her eyebrows. "Yes, actually, because for a genius you really suck at sorting your laundry."

"Well, we can't be perfect at everything, can we?" He joked. "I can do this laundry for you. You have more to do at the garage today than I do, and the earlier you get started, the earlier you can come home."

Paige was tempted. She preferred getting work done early and having more time in the evening, but laundry was actually one of her favorite household chores to do and had been for a long time. Of course, when you were eighteen the best part about laundry was putting shoes in the dryer and then sitting on it, but nowadays she just liked how calming the laundry room was. No one was trying to kill her or destroy the world. In here, disorderly things became orderly again, in the most literal sense.

But she really would like to be home from the garage by the time Ralph got home from his study group. The past few weeks had really made family time feel extra important.

"Go on," Walter said with a smile. "I'll be there by noon and both of us can leave by three."

She nodded. "That sounds like a great plan actually." Placing her hand on his arm, she kissed him again, quickly. "Thank you, Love."

* * *

With no one else at the garage by the time Walter got there – apparently Thursday afternoon was prime couple time – they managed to get back to the condo a good forty minutes earlier than predicted. And they had very nice forty minutes in their room before Paige settled into her favorite stuffed chair to read some e – mails she had received from prospective clients since they'd left the garage. One had sent a spreadsheet documenting some issues their company had been having, and Paige would have to show it to Walter before making a commitment, but it looked like an easy enough fix with both him and Sylvester on the job.

"Mom?"

Paige looked up from the document. She hadn't heard her son come in. "Yeah, baby? Are…" She frowned. "Is everything okay?"

Ralph looked about as uncomfortable as she had seen him in his seventeen years of life. "Uh…"

He was wringing his hands, fidgeting, and Paige felt concern mounting within her. She put her laptop on the coffee table in front of her and folded her hands, shifting her weight so she was facing directly towards him. "Ralph?"

His voice even sounded strange. "I really messed up. Like, it's really, really bad."

"Come here." Paige gestured, and her son slowly walked toward her. "What happened? Is it something with the car?" He wasn't Walter's biological son, but he had somehow inherited the love of fast cars all the same.

"No." Ralph bit his lip. "N – no, it's not the car." Paige wished she had stood up. He was tall now, as tall as she was, and with her sitting down, he towered over her. But everything about how he stood and how he was looking at her absolutely screamed fear and vulnerability and he didn't seem quite as tall to her as she knew he really was.

He stared at – or through – her for a long time, possibly even close to a full minute. And when he spoke again, Paige was very, very glad she was sitting down.

"Bri's pregnant."


	2. Chapter 2

"Why didn't you use protection?"

As soon as the words came out of Paige's mouth, she wanted to snatch them up and take them back. It was a legitimate question, but it wasn't appropriate as the first thing to say. But she wasn't thinking clearly right now. So much was racing through her mind and none of it was good.

"We  _did_ ," Ralph said, crossing his arms angrily. "But that stuff is only about ninety eight percent effective."

"I know that," Paige said, "that's how I got pregnant with you."

"Thanks mom, I hadn't quite seen the irony myself." He had taken on what Paige recognized from Cabe as a defensive stance, feet apart, shoulders square. "Why the Hell would you just assume we didn't use anything?"

"You watch your language, young man" Paige snapped.

"What, Hell? That's not even a curse word. And you haven't cared about me saying it in years. I'm almost an adult. I'm not nine anymore. I say words."

"Well what do you want me to say, Ralph?"

"I don't know, but you're my mom and I need your help and I thought you would know what to do." His eyes were still flashing angrily, but his stance faltered slightly.

Paige felt bad. She had no idea what she could do, but…

Talk. They could talk. "Sit down," she said, gesturing to the sofa. "I'm sorry, I…talk to me."

Ralph perched on the edge of the couch they had had for seven years as if it was unfamiliar territory. Paige supposed that it was. "Okay," she said, "did you find out today?"

Ralph nodded. "She texted me ten times, it had to have been, while I was in class. I was ignoring her. Then she told me it was really important. And I still ignored her, because, well, know know."

Paige nodded. Her son had been doing an incredible job of ignoring Bri since everything blew up.

"But then she said she had something to tell me that wasn't appropriate to say via text. I told her to tell me anyway. And then she sent me this."

Ralph held his phone out toward Paige. She squinted. It was a bad picture. But she was familiar enough with what it showed. "And you're sure that's her?"

"I met up with her right after that class and saw the actual sonogram. Yeah, it's hers. She's due December 20th."

 _December 20th. That's before the 25th._ Paige felt sick to her stomach.

"I uh…I don't know what she's going to do yet, though," Ralph said. "She's not sure if she's going to keep it or not. So maybe this will all go away, but…" He shrugged. "Knowing Bri, she's gonna keep it."

"If she doesn't, are you going to pay for half her procedure?" Paige almost told him that he'd better, but what he had said earlier was right. He was almost an adult, and he should be treated like one. Better to give him the chance to tell her what he was thinking before lecturing him.

"I would pay for all of it if it meant she could get permanently out of my life," he said. "But I just told her to let me know what she was going to do because end of the day it's her decision, and not mine."

Paige gave a slow nod. "That's very grown up of you, Ralph."

"Yeah, whatever." He put his head in his hands. "This wasn't supposed to happen, Mom."

 _I know, baby, I know._  She remembered when she'd told Drew. The circumstances were different; they were a little older than Ralph was now and still together, but she had still been scared. Despite becoming a teenage parent herself, Paige still couldn't imagine what Ralph had to be feeling. "Do you want something to eat? I can make something, or we can get delivery from Kovelsky's…"

"I just want to go to my room and lie down," he said after a moment. "I need to process. I...I have a lot to process."

"Okay. Just…don't be afraid to come to me, all right?" Paige said. "I'm sorry my initial response was…bad. I...I guess...processing, yeah, exactly."

"It's fine. It's not like it's news you get every day."

Paige could tell by her son's tone that he wasn't completely okay with her reaction despite her apology. She wasn't going to push it. He had accepted her apology on the surface and that had to be enough for now. "Walter went to pick up some groceries; should be home any minute," she began, not entirely sure where she was going with that thought.

Ralph was already rising, turning toward his room, but he whirled around, his eyes wide. "You can't tell him!"

Paige blinked. "Wait, why?"

"Because it's my business and I should get to decide when people know."

"Are you not going to tell him?"

"Not if Bri terminates I'm not."

 _So I could potentially be keeping this from him forever_? Paige didn't say it. It wasn't fair. End of the day, this wasn't her situation.

 _Except it is. This is way more complicated than Ralph thinks._  She sighed. "Ralph…"

"Just…just let me see what's going to happen."

Paige didn't know why he would tell her so willingly but want to keep it a secret from his stepfather, but before she could ask any more questions, Ralph turned away and headed for his room.

* * *

"Good evening, my sweet," Walter said, smiling brightly at her as he dropped his keys in the bowl near the door and headed right for the kitchen, setting the bags on the counter.

"Hey," Paige said. She was still in the chair. She wasn't sure she had moved in the past half hour. If she hadn't deep cleaned the place earlier that day she probably would have started that process after Ralph went to his room. But there was nothing to do. The damn place was spotless. She blamed her instincts.

"You okay there?" He asked, turning from the fridge. "You're pretty quiet. Do you feel okay? From earlier?"

On another day she would have given him a wry smile and asked when on Earth sex with him had made her feel  _anything_  but good, but that kind of talk usually led back into the bedroom and she most certainly wasn't in the mood right now. "I'm great," she said, although she knew she didn't sound convincing. "You?"

He looked at her oddly. "Paige, what's the matter?"

She shook her head.

Walter walked quickly across the room, and Paige got up and made a beeline down the hall. The living area was too close to Ralph's room and she didn't want him to hear her cry.


	3. Chapter 3

Paige managed to avoid telling Walter why she was crying, chalking it up to hormonal emotional swings, but even the guy who had spent the first thirty years of his life clueless about social cues clearly picked up on her and Ralph's awkwardly formal conversation during dinner. She avoided eye contact with either of them, picking at her stir fry and feeling sick to her stomach.

"You…feeling okay there, Love?" Walter asked, raising his eyebrows pointedly.

Paige could feel both sets of eyes on her, both expecting her to say different things. She cleared her throat. "Yep. Yep, great, just great, this squash is something else, isn't it?"

She could sense the relief coming from her son. Walter stared at her a moment longer before returning to his bowl.

"Well, I'm going out," Ralph said, standing up and pushing in his chair. "I'll be back before midnight."

"Where are you going?" Walter asked.

Ralph folded his arms. " _Out_."

"Paige?" Walter asked.

He was expecting her to require Ralph detail his plans. She sighed. "Is this for your potential new project?" She asked.

Ralph shook his head. "No. Well…kinda? I'm going to research. For it. If I do have it. Gotta know the different ways of...stuff, you know, can I go now?"

"Okay. Don't be home late."

"I won't."

Paige rose, dumping out the rest of her bowl and loading the dishwasher. She jumped when she turned around to see Walter standing behind her, his dishes in his hand. "Oh. I guess I'm in your way, huh?"

He patted her bottom as he stepped around her, putting his own dishes into the dishwasher and turning it on. "You sure you're okay?"

"Totally."

"You've been acting sick all afternoon." He reached up, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Paige I know why you want to wait. But don't you think we should at least tell Ralph?"

Ralph. December 20th. "Oh God," she said, the same uneasy, unpleasant feeling from before pooling in her stomach. She turned toward the sink, placing her hands firmly on the counter as she leaned over and threw up, coughing and reaching for the paper towel roll. She grabbed a sheet and wiped her mouth, turning on the sink with her other hand to rinse out the basin. "Walter, we really, really need to talk."

He nodded. "Okay."

She grabbed his hand and led him down the hall, letting go once they were in the bedroom. She dropped onto the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands, feeling the mattress sink as Walter eased down beside her, placing his hand on her back. "Paige?"

She lifted her head and looked at him. "Ralph got Brianna pregnant and they're due five days before us."

Walter stared at her, not blinking, for what felt like hours. Then he took in a deep breath and let it out heavily. "Whoa."

"Yeah."

"And he's sure it's his?"

"Well, based on her due date she conceived when we were all holed up in that camp trying to rescue those miners in Columbia. We know based on the logs she never left the camp so unless Cabe, Toby, Sylvester or you have something you would like to share with the rest of the class, Ralph's the father."

Walter shook his head. "Jesus."

She leaned against him. "If she keeps this baby, she's going to be in our lives forever. That lying, manipulative  _bitch_  is going to be in our lives forever." She sat up again, shaking in anger. "I hate her, Walter. I hate her so much."

Walter nodded, pressing his lips together. She knew he was angry too. Everyone at Team Scorpion was furious with her for the way she used Ralph and his kindness, genius, and access to resources for her own personal gain. But one of the many things he had learned in the past few years was to process before reacting, so at first, he stayed silent. In normal circumstances, Paige was proud of that growth. Now she just wanted him to say something.

Finally, he reached over and took her hand. "Is she going to keep it?"

"I don't know. Ralph doesn't know."

"She has over a month to decide," Walter said. "If she keeps it…" He sighed. "Well, at least our little one will have a playmate, right?"

The sick feeling was coming back, and Paige lifted her free hand to wipe her eyes before she looked at him again. "Walter, I…" her voice cracked, and the next words came out in a whisper. "I can't."

He looked confused. "You can't what, my sweet?"

He was pushing some hair back behind her ear again, and she leaned into his touch, closing her eyes and savoring the intimacy. She looked down at her knees. "Walter. I can't have a child that's younger than a grandbaby."

He looked at her for another long moment, but she realized he wasn't processing, but had instead taken a minute to understand, when his hand slipped out of hers. "What?" He said, his voice betraying his hurt.

She blinked away tears. "I'm sorry, Walter, I just…I was already a teen mom. A single parent. I can't be  _this_  too." She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "That's like an episode of  _Steve Wilkos_. I can't do it. I've already been so many things."

His nostrils were flaring slightly as he breathed. She didn't know if he was angry or sad or something else, or a combination. "Walter," she said, feeling like a knife was twisting in her heart, "Walter I know you can't understand."

He rose, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking in a circle between the bed and the door, staring at the floor. Then he returned to the bed, sitting down next to her again. She looked at him, wanting him to speak even if she didn't like what he had to say. Her heart leapt when he took her hand again.

"Paige," he said slowly. "I don't know how to process any of this."

"I know," she said. "I know. I'm sorry."

"We wanted this," he said looking at her. Paige's heart hurt at the slight glint of tears in his eyes. "We tried for this. And now…now the future of our family depends on what  _Brianna Shultz_  does?"

"I…"

"No, I know," Walter said. "I know people have looked sideways at you and made judgements about you for most of your life. I can't…I can't imagine what that must have been like, even given…even given what I had to deal with growing up." He squeezed her hand. "And I know that…" He took a breath. "I know that this is your choice. And I don't want you to feel pressured. Because end of the day, I love you, Paige." He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. "I love you. Just when we found out you were pregnant, I didn't…"

He didn't think that she would decide she couldn't go through with it. Paige understood. She had never expected this either – any of it. She rolled her forehead along his. "I know." She sat up, putting her head in her hands. "I hate everything about this situation,  _trust_ me. I want us to expand our family I…I just wish this wasn't so complicated. And I wish it didn't put me in a position where I might…" she trailed off, trying to keep her voice steady, "…make you resent me."

Walter scooted closer, sliding his arm around her. "Please look at me?" Paige did. He reached over, cupping her face with his hand and lightly massaging her cheek with his thumb. "I love you more than any hypothetical future. I need you to know that."

The tears spilled out, running along his thumb. "Thank you," she said gratefully, leaning against him. She hadn't realized until he'd spoken that she had feared losing him, even after everything they had been through together.

"Don't thank me," he whispered, pulling her close. "I'm your husband."

They stayed that way for several minutes, sitting in relative silence with their arms around each other. Then Walter spoke again. "What does Ralph want?"

Paige sat up. "I haven't asked him specifically. But I got a pretty strong impression that he isn't ready to be a father. And he's just a kid, Walt.  _He's just a kid_."

"I know." He stroked her hair. "I know. I know."


	4. Chapter 4

“I can’t imagine being pregnant.”  Patty shook her head slowly, looking baffled at the idea of pregnancy as a mere concept.  “I just can’t imagine it.”

“Yeah, well the first sign of pregnancy is being late, so I can see why that would be too much for you,” Ralph joked, a corner of his mouth.

She stared at him, her face stern.  “That is _not. funny._ ”

“Trust me, I don’t find this situation humorous in the slightest.”

“Sorry, kiddo,” she said, shaking her head.  “Is the witch keeping it?”

Ralph shrugged.  “Probably.  She can get even more money from me this way.  But she would be a terrible mother, I mean, how many times did she almost kill Ferret Bueller?  And how is it fair to a kid to be used as a pawn in some scheme?”

“Isn’t that exactly what your grandmother did to your mother?”

 _Don’t you talk about my grandma that way._  Ralph shifted uncomfortably.  “I mean, it ended up that way, yes.  But she and my grandpa were all in love and stuff when she was born.  They wanted her for her.  The pawn thing came around later.”  He sighed.  “These situations are so complicated.”

“I’ll say.”  Patty closed her book.  “And you’re in a tricky position.  If there’s an accidental pregnancy, the pregnant person can get it taken care of.  But if the other party is the one who isn’t ready, or doesn’t want to be a parent, tough.  You’re still on the hook for child support and all that.”

“Thanks for explaining that so clearly.  I hadn’t quite come to that realization.”

“Were you this sarcastic and snippy when you told your parents?”

Ralph opened his mouth to protest, then closed it when he remembered some of the things he’d said to his mother.  “Actually, yeah.  But not my parents.  My mom.  Walter doesn’t know.”

Patty frowned.  “Are you sure?  Because he was looking up baby things on his computer earlier.”

Ralph felt his heart begin to beat faster.  “What?”

“Yeah.  I don’t know what he was looking at, sorry, but it was definitely pregnancy related.”

Oh God.  “No,” he shook his head.  “He can’t know about this.  My mom is probably pregnant.”

Patty blinked.  “Wait, really?”

“I don’t know, that’s the only explanation for why Walter would be looking at baby stuff.”

“Maybe Happy is pregnant again?” Patty suggested.  “Or Florence?”

Ralph cocked his head.  “Do you think either of them would tell him before telling all of us?”

“I dunno.  Ellie is a girl, so Walter didn’t get the whole namesake thing happening then, maybe he’s up in their grill about naming another kid after him.”

Ralph thought this was all a rather contrived explanation.  “That’s more likely than my dad somehow finding out about the one pregnancy I’m actually sure exists?”

“Your mom wouldn’t tell him if you asked her not to.”

“I guess you’re right.” Ralph couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that Walter knew.  “He is just gonna be so disappointed in me when he finds out. I’m smarter than him.  I’m supposed to have that reflected in my life.  And not only…”

“…did you get played by a little Charles Ponzi, you knocked her up which society says doesn’t happen if you’re smart.”  Patty leaned forward on the table.  “Ralph, shit happens.  Walter isn’t going to be disappointed in you.”

Ralph folded his arms and stared down at the table.  “This would be a lot simpler if Florence actually was pregnant.”

“Want me to go over there and suggest they get on that?” Patty asked.

“Actually, that would make me feel better,” he joked.

Patty laughed.  “Look, I’m sure some of my classmates can help you figure out what to do if Bri keeps the baby.  She will have a right to petition for child support, but there’s only so much you would be legally responsible for.  She wouldn’t be able to just drain you of every penny you have.”

“I appreciate it,” Ralph said.  “I hate even allowing you to do it.”

Patty nodded.  “I know.  You’re supposed to be able to handle everything yourself.  You know I used to think that too.  But we all need each other eventually.”

“College made you alarmingly wise,” Ralph said, cracking a smile.

“And this team made me much less uptight.  I know, I hate it too,” she joked.

Ralph jumped at the sound of the garage door opening, not exactly sure who he was afraid was walking in.  Bri wouldn’t dare show up here just for what Toby called _kicks and giggles_.

He was right, at least this time.  It wasn’t Bri.

“Hey guys,” Florence said.  “What’s going on?”

“You have to get pregnant,” Patty blurted.

All eyes in the garage were staring at Patty.  “Uh…” Florence said, cocking her head.  “I’m sorry, what?”

“Nothing,” Patty said, looking flustered.  “Nothing.”

Ralph saw Walter’s eyes flicking from him to Florence to Paige, and he felt anger and hurt pooling in his gut.  “You told him, Mom?”

“I…” 

She didn’t have to say anything.  He could tell by the look on her face that she had.  “How could you?” he asked, his voice awkwardly cracking for the first time in years.  “It’s not your place to tell him things I tell you in confidence!”  He looked at Walter.  “Patty saw you looking at pregnancy stuff earlier on the laptop.”

“And…and she thinks it’s because Florence is pregnant?” He asked, looking almost as genuinely confused as Ralph had ever seen him.

“Florence _isn’t_ pregnant,” Florence said pointedly.

“And I wasn’t looking at pregnancy stuff because of you, Ralph,” Walter said.  “I was still waiting for you to tell me.”

“I just wish I could have told you when I was ready to,” he said, glaring at Paige, trying not to get too emotional but _I trusted you and you promised and it hasn’t even been two days_.

“Wait,” Patty said.  “If you weren’t looking at the baby stuff because of Ralph…” She looked over at Florence.

“Seriously!  Why me?”

“Florence isn’t pregnant,” Paige said, stepping forward, “although admittedly I only know that because of her repeated denials.” 

“And if she was, why would she tell _me_?” Walter asked.

Florence pointed at Walter.  “Exactly!  I would tell Paige first.  We are much closer.”

“So to clarify,” Patty said, “Bri is the only one that’s pregnant, yes?”

“If anyone else is pregnant they’re keeping it to themselves,” Paige said, shrugging.  “I don’t mean you, Flo,” she said quickly when the shorter woman threw her hands up in the air.  “I just mean generally.  I can make general statements about hypothetical pregnancies.”

“Agreed,” Florence said, “although that’s a bit of a weird thing to take a stand on.”

Patty looked at Ralph, her eyebrows up.  “Are you confused?  I’m confused.”

“Also confused,” Ralph affirmed.

“Also that back and forth just really lost me…” she leaned in close and dropped her voice to a whisper.  “ _Is_ Florence pregnant?”


	5. Chapter 5

Paige finished loading the dishwasher and turned it on, placing a hand on her back as she straightened up.

"Hey, you okay?"

She supposed she shouldn't be surprised that Walter had noticed. He had been extra attentive the past few weeks, ever since their fourth pregnancy test had come back positive. That day he had promised her to make this as easy as possible for her. He certainly was keeping that promise.

"Oh yeah," she said. "I just laid funny last night and I didn't have to move a lot on the case today so it didn't get worked out."

"Mmm." Walter pressed his thumb against the sore spot.

Paige turned her head toward him as he lightly massaged the muscle. "I think we should tell Ralph about our baby. He's going to think it's weird if we keep it from him much longer."

Walter looked slightly surprised. "Are you sure?"

Paige blinked. He had been the one who had wanted to tell him. "Wait, what?"

"I just mean…" Walter looked uncomfortable. "I know I was a bit taken aback the other day, and I'm assuming if you want to tell Ralph that means you've made your decision and I said I wanted to make everything about this pregnancy easy on you and so I would hate it if…"

"Are you asking me if I feel pressured?" Paige asked, turning to face him. She shook her head. "No. Not at all."

"Okay." He reached up and ran his knuckles lightly down the side of her face. "I do want to reemphasize that nothing would have changed in regards to how I feel about you."

"I know," she said, feeling a small smile come over her face as she nodded.

"Good." He kissed her forehead. "Because Toby has told me about how hard pregnancy is on the body and I love you too much to ever want to push you into something you don't want."

She tipped her head, asking him to lower his lips to hers, and she stepped even closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm your husband."

She leaned back slightly so she could see his face. "You said that the other day, too."

Walter seemed confused, as if he was making some brilliant point she wasn't getting. "I'm sorry," Paige said. "You being my husband doesn't mean you have to be okay with everything I do."

"Of course it doesn't," Walter said, "but if I don't respect your body, I have no business being your husband. And to be honest…" a small grin came over his face, "I  _kinda_  love being your husband."

"Well," Paige said with a smile, "I kinda love being your wife."

They kissed again, slow and tender, and she felt the vibrations against his lips when he moaned quietly.

"Excuse me. But do you guys  _have_  to do that?"

Paige cleared her throat, looking at her son sheepishly. "We didn't know you were home."

"You said you were going to bed," Walter said at the same time.

Ralph rolled his eyes.

"It's a good thing that you're awake, though," Paige said hesitantly, glancing at Walter. "Because Walt and I have something to tell you."

"You're pregnant?"

Paige blinked, glancing at Walter. "You…?"

"I didn't tell him."

"No, he didn't tell me," Ralph said. "He's capable of keeping a secret."

"Ralph," Paige started.

"No offense, Mom, but I don't want to hear it. You promised me I could tell Walter about Bri when I was ready and you went against that. Sorry if I'm a little snarky."

Paige held her breath and counted to ten. Quickly. "So you just, guessed, or what?"

"I mean, Walter was looking at pregnancy stuff on Monday. And I'm pretty sure Happy isn't pregnant again and it was made pretty clear that Florence isn't." He shrugged. "That leaves you."

She sighed. "Well, yeah, Ralph. I am pregnant."

He bit his lip. "This is weird."

"It is weird," Walter agreed, nodding.

"Very weird," Paige said.

"Fuckin' weird."

"Ralph."

"Sorry." Ralph dropped down onto the arm of the couch.

"You still don't know what Bri is gonna do?"

Ralph rolled his eyes. "I mean, she says she hasn't decided but we all know she's gonna have the baby. She can't milk the business for all its worth if she can't go after me for child support."

"The business isn't worth much right now," Walter said.

He was trying to be helpful, Paige recognized that, but considering Bri was the reason they were all struggling to make ends meet, it wasn't the best point.

"She'll still go for all she can." Ralph kicked the recliner. "God, she's such a…" He shook his head. Then he looked at Paige. "Mom, when are you due?"

Paige paused before responding. "Christmas Day."

Ralph put his head in his hands. "Oh my God."

"I know."

"This is so messed up."

"It will be a little weird, that's for sure," Paige said carefully, "but when have we ever been a normal family? You know?"

Ralph frowned, then stood up. "Yeah. Look, I have homework to do, can we continue talking about this later?"

"Sure, bud," Walter said.

Paige nodded. "Yeah, yeah just…keep up with school. School's important."

She watched with curiosity and concern as her son hurried away.

* * *

 

"I'm confused."

"Okay so my mom is going to have a baby and Bri is going to have a baby right around the same time, and…"

"No, Ralph," Sylvester said. "I understand that. What I don't get is why you're upset about her pointing out that you guys have never done anything by the book."

He sighed. "She didn't say by the book. She said we've never been a normal family." Ralph rested his arms on the table and dropped his head to them. "Why  _can't_  we be a normal family?"

"Is this like years back when you said it hurt your feelings that she called you an indoor cat?"

"Yes!" Ralph's eyes lit up, excited that Sylvester had made the connection. "Yes, it's like that."

"I mean…" He paused. "None of us have ever really done things the way we're 'supposed' to. Our relationships with the world have never been normal."

"But we were," Ralph said. "For a moment. Maybe my mom had me as a teenager and raised me on her own, and maybe Walter didn't believe in love and maybe I felt out of touch with the entire world. But then…then they fell in love. And Walter introduced me to this whole new world of genius and…" He bit his lip. "And for a moment, they were two people in love who loved me as much as I love both of them and no one knew or cared what we were before. And now I'm having a baby I don't want that will probably be older than my sister or brother and my mom's going to be a grandmother at thirty – six." Ralph was embarrassed when his voice cracked. "She said we've never been normal. But we were. For a moment."


	6. Chapter 6

Ralph saw her before she saw him.

She was sitting along the concrete wall that ran behind the bus stop shelters, her ankles hooked, her braid resting on her back pack. She was wearing a pastel blue top and jeans; ordinarily that meant she’d be wearing the star shaped aquamarine earrings he’d gotten her their first Christmas together, when they were just fifteen.  He was sure that wouldn’t be the case today.

“Hi, Brianna,” he said as he approached.

She looked up from her phone.  “Hey, Ralph.  Thanks for meeting with me.”

“Uh – huh.” He set his backpack down and sat next to her.  “I have money for you if you decide to go to the clinic.”

“Okay.  Thank you.”  Bri shifted her weight.  The sun glinting off of them drew Ralph’s attention to the fact that she was wearing the earrings, like she always would before.

“Have you made your decision yet?” He asked.  He wasn’t going to bring up the earrings.  She probably wanted him to.

“No.”

“Okay.”

She raised her eyebrows.  “You’re not going to push me to go to a clinic?”

“No,” Ralph said.  “If you want to keep it that’s just as much your right as wanting to terminate.”

“Interesting.  Most dudes feel entitled to a say even if they aren’t with the girl anymore.  That’s special of you, Ralph.  You’re a special guy.  I always knew that.”  She smiled sweetly at him, the way she always would before.

“Yeah.  Sure.  Okay.  I’m not getting back together with you.”

“Why not?  We’re pregnant.” She grabbed his hand, placing it against her stomach.

Ralph pulled it away.  “We’re not pregnant.  You are.  And you’re feeling way too high.  The uterus isn’t up by your ribs.  Plus, it’s not like you’d feel anything for months anyway.”

Bri sighed.  “Ralph, I know I’ve been shitty.  I know.”

“Don’t start with that,” Ralph said.  “Your manipulations the past few months have made us poorer than we were when Cabe went to prison, and it was just because you saw an opportunity to suck us dry and took it, not because you actually needed us.  My parents barely made rent on the first and it’s only because of the job we had the other day that we’re going to make it next month.  We have to take so many risks in our work for bonuses so we can start saving again.  ‘I know I’ve been shitty’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

“I made mistakes,” Bri said.  “We’re _seventeen_.  This is when we make mistakes, right?”

 _I think in this case you’re using our age as an excuse,_ Ralph thought.  He wanted to say it out loud.  He didn’t.  He knew she would use the pregnancy as leverage to make the point that he made mistakes too. _Except I didn’t._ It wasn’t his fault the condom hadn’t worked.

“So I was thinking,” Bri continued, seeming uncomfortable at his silent stare, “I haven’t made my decision yet, but you might as well give me that money you were talking about.  I can use it for baby stuff if I keep it.”

“Ha, that’s a good one,” Ralph said.  “If you keep this baby you’re on your own.  I’ve made it clear that I don’t want a kid.”

“So you’ll only help me financially if I don’t keep it?  Sounds like pressure to me.”

Ralph rolled his eyes.  “California insurance covers the procedure.  The money would be for you for recovery, transport, all that, because I know it’s a rough thing to go through.  I’m not going to be throwing money my family doesn’t have at you when you are the reason we’re broke in the first place.  If you want to be a mother, go for it.  I’m not gonna try and make you do something you don’t want to do.  But I am _not_ letting you use me anymore.  If I wanted that, I’d still be with you.”

Bri shrugged.  “Fine.  We can do this the hard way.  But as you pointed out, you guys are poor.”

Ralph sensed that was some sort of threat.  He simply kept staring at her, waiting.

She shrugged again.  “My family has the money for a lawyer.  You’re the reason I’m pregnant.  They’ll make you pay child support.”

“You’re a bitch, you know that?” Ralph snapped.

She raised her eyebrows.  “Such misogyny.”

“This is not what misogyny is, but okay.”

“And now he’s mansplaining.” Bri shook her head.  “Cute.”

Ralph opened his mouth to snap at her that being like this hurt the women who had valid claims of what she was accusing him of, but he stayed silent.  Anything he said would just give her more ammunition.  He sighed.  “Bri, I really don’t know what you want from me or why you think I’m going to be manipulated again.” 

“Because deep down, you still love me,” Bri said.  “Just like I still love you.  And also,” she added, standing up as a bus pulled up to the station, “you wouldn’t want to end up like your father, would you?”

* * *

“That’s ridiculous.  You don’t still love her.”  Patty raised her eyebrows when he didn’t respond.  “Do you?”

“No,” Ralph said quickly.  “I mean, I still feel something for her, it’s hard not to when you’re with someone for two years, no matter how badly things ended between us.  But I did love her once, so I know what it feels like, and this isn’t it.”

“Did you tell her about your mom?”

“Heck no,” Ralph said.  “She would find a way to use that.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Patty said.

“Remember when we found out what she was doing and she told me I wasn’t allowed to be mad at her because I love my grandma?”  That one still made his blood boil.  “I know my grandma has taken advantage of a ton of people.  She’s been nothing wonderful to me and I love her, but I don’t make my mother have a relationship with her if she doesn’t want to.  I don’t expect my mom to love her just because s _he’s your mom_.”

“I think your mom does love her, though.”

“I mean, probably, but she doesn’t have to.  That’s the point.  We aren’t obligated to love people just because of who they are to us.  We choose to love them.  Just because I love a con artist doesn’t mean I have to love con artists without reserve.”

“You’re right,” Patty said.  “I mean, I agree, anyway.”

“She also said…” Ralph hesitated.  He wantd to tell s _omeone_ this, just to not have to deal with it alone, but now that he was about to spill the last thing Bri had said before getting on the bus, he backed off.  “She just took some cheap shots at me.

She looked sympathetic.  “I’m sorry.”

Ralph shrugged.  “It’s whatever, I guess.”

“I’m not used to not having a solution,” Patty said.  “I really _am_ sorry.”

“It’s not your responsibility,” Ralph said.  “But I appreciate it.”

“I bet Flo is glad that everyone at the garage knows Paige is pregnant so they stop asking her if she is.”

“Yeah.  I made a joke about that the other day and she told me she can’t wait until I’m eighteen so she can flip me off.”

Patty laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now y’all have met Bri! And before anyone asks no, I’m not using this chapter as a way to show how much healthier Ralph’s dynamic with Patty is with the intention to get them together. Ratty is not going to be a thing, at least not here.
> 
> Also I high key ship Fly super hard. I thought it was so weird when the rumors first started floating around but by the time the promo aired on Monday I was sold and then I got like SO emotional over the bit we got in that? (I may have already written some smutty Fly that I’m debating on whether or not I should ever post, haha.) The last time I got invested in a cute side ship one of them was senselessly killed off and destroyed my soul so writers you’d better not eff this up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been a while. Both for this fic and for writing for this fandom in general. I needed some clarity on a few things, and now I think I feel okay proceeding.

He had only caught a few words, but Walter didn't have to overhear the conversation between Paige and Ralph to know that things were still incredibly tense between them. From the way Paige walked away with her shoulders squared off while discreetly wiping her eye to Ralph making a show of settling down in one of the chairs outside the airstream and sticking his nose into a book Walter knew for a fact he wasn't actually reading, it couldn't have been more clear that they still hadn't gotten past Paige confessing Bri's pregnancy to Walter.

Glancing at Paige – she was talking to Sylvester and Florence – Walter decided to talk to Ralph. He was more sure of what to say to him than Paige in this situation.

"Hey, bud," he said, taking a seat in the adjacent chair. "You busy?"

"I'm reading."

"No you aren't. The book's upside down."

Ralph blinked in surprise, but didn't miss a beat. "I like the challenge."

"Sure."

Ralph flipped the book over. "Sorry. Just grabbed it to be busy so my mom wouldn't continue to try and make small talk."

Walter took a moment to steel himself, then took in a breath. "Can I ask you something, Ralph?'

The boy nodded, looking slightly confused as to why he wouldn't just come out with whatever he planned to say. He knew it wasn't like him. This way was less efficient. But Walter needed permission to broach the topic. It was too sensitive. "I know that it wasn't your mom's place to tell me about Bri's pregnancy. But you've said so yourself that secrets around here get around a teenaged Toby. It seems to me that there has to be another reason you're upset with her."

Ralph blinked, setting his jaw. "You said you were going to ask me something?"

Walter sighed. "What else is it?"

Ralph bit his lip, closing the book and letting it rest in his lap. "I know how much you hate Drew."

"I don't  _hate_  – "

"Yes, you do."

"Yes, I do."

"Exactly."

"Well," Walter said, "why wouldn't I? He abandoned you and your mom." Ralph raised his eyebrows. Walter suddenly understood. "Oh."

Ralph's eyes glistened, and Walter realized the teenager was close to tears. "Ralph," he said, reaching over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't even close to the same thing."

"Really?" The boy said, looking at Walter as if he was missing a digit from his I.Q. "Give me one way this isn't me just being a selfish piece of trash."

"Okay." Walter shifted his weight. "Drew and your mom were still in a relationship when she found out she was pregnant, and they had planned to get married eventually. Drew was two years older than you are now. And he promised to come back to you and didn't."

"So I'm worse, because he at least tried for a while, and I don't want to even do that."

"No." Walter shook his head firmly. "No, Ralph. Drew quit the moment it got tough. He made that commitment and backed out of it because it wasn't convenient for him. Then when he didn't have anything going for him anymore, he tried to default back to you two. You aren't making empty promises. Not being ready for a kid at eighteen and knowing it, and when the kid's mother is an ex already, that's not being a deadbeat. And also?"

Ralph tipped his head.

Walter squeezed the boy's wrist. "While you're nothing like Drew, you know what the biggest difference is here?"

"What?"

"Bri is not your mom."

Ralph stared at him for a long, long moment, and then slowly nodded. "My mom didn't deserve what happened. Bri…"

"…is doing this for money." Walter nodded. "And you know that she's going to regret that one day."

"We don't  _know_  that."

"Not for certain, no," Walter said. "But I see one of two things happening. She could be awake at three in the morning with a six – month – old screaming infant she doesn't love and realizing money doesn't make this part easier she could have avoided it all. Or she could end up falling madly in love with that baby and then feel horrible for using it as a pawn in this sick game of manipulation." He gave a little shrug. "I can't say for sure, of course. But I have a feeling that one day she is going to hate that she's chosen to have a child because she's trying to gain something from you. From the business.

"I hope it's not the first option," Ralph said. "Walter?"

"Yeah?"

"I feel nothing for the baby. I mean, nothing paternal. But it doesn't deserve to have a mother like Bri. I wish she either wouldn't have it or that she will come around. But I know her. And now that everything has happened, I can think back on all the little things that indicated she could be like this. Things that weren't alarming at the time and still aren't by themselves but in the bigger picture…yikes." He shook his head. "I know I was involved in her getting pregnant so I can't really speak to being responsible but she is damn irresponsible for using a baby as a way to extort money from us. She won't adopt it out because she can't get money from us that way, so basically, I'm gonna be stuck."

"We can fight it. I can't speak for Sly, but I'm sure he would be happy to defend you at a child support hearing. And I think we'd have a strong case. We can prove Bri swindled us out of all that money."

Ralph looked down. "This is the father's rights conversation that isn't talked about."

Walter cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"I  _mean_  you hear about it all the time. Guy and girl gets pregnant, she doesn't keep it, people complain the father didn't have a say. But what about on this end? What about when guy gets girl pregnant, he doesn't want it and tells her from the start, but then he still has to be involved when she keeps it? Bri has a right to be a mother or not. And when I saw her the other day she was surprised I wasn't pressuring her to get an abortion, but I wouldn't do that because it's her decision."

Walter nodded.

"But she can pressure me to the point of a court order to be involved." Ralph kicked a leg out. "I bet if I looked for those  _what the father wants is important too_  people in this situation I'd hear nothing but crickets."

"I'm sorry, bud."

Ralph looked back up at him. His eyes were damp again. "I'm just glad that you don't hate me."

"Ralph," Walter said firmly. "I could never, ever hate you. Ever."

"I know. Just with this situation I've been thinking a lot about Drew lately and he used to…"

"Hey." Walter raised his eyebrows slightly, waiting to continue until Ralph looked at him. "I wasn't around when you were born. There are several years of you and him and your mom that I can never know everything about. But, and I have a pretty strong feeling about this, I love you more than Drew ever did. And I know that you've been comparing yourself to him a lot lately, and I see why, but you're not him. Not at all."

Ralph gave a small smile. "Thank you, Walter."

"You believe everything I'm saying?"

"No. Not all of it, at least. But it's still really nice to hear. Especially coming from you."


	8. Chapter 8

Ralph was angry.

It was frustratingly ironic. The last time he was this upset, it was at Walter, for hurting his mother. Now he was furious  _at_  his mother.

He pulled out his phone and looked at the text again, the first time Brianna had tried to contact him in nearly a week.

_Sonogram on Wednesday at noon, if you want to come._

Of course he didn't want to go to the damn sonogram. He didn't want the damn baby. Bri knew he didn't want the damn baby. Hell, he was pretty sure  _Bri_  didn't want the damn baby. When he'd showed the text to his mother, he had fully expected her to roll her eyes right along with him, maybe even make a comment about how Bri had a lot of nerve. She'd been making a lot of those comments, going way back to April.

Instead, Paige had shrugged her shoulders and said "maybe you should go."

The fight that ensued had ended in his mother crying, him dropping to his knees and resting his forehead on the kitchen floor, and Walter standing awkwardly in between them, having walked in in the midst of the shouting and having no idea who to side with, much less who to comfort first.

Ralph typed  _can I come over?_ into the text box, and it was only after he hit send that he realized he was still in Bri's conversation thread. He frantically set his phone to airplane mode and felt a rush of relief when  _message failed to send_  popped up. He selected the intended recipient and typed his question out again.

He got into his car – one that Cabe helped him pick out and Walter and Happy had helped improve – and pulled out of the parking lot, still not sure where he was going but needing to put some distance between himself and the condo.

Thankfully, he had only gone about a mile when his phone pinged. He instructed his car to read the message.

_I'm home. Come over._

* * *

"Dude, you look ghastly."

"Thank you," Ralph replied.

Patty held the door open as he stepped inside. "What's the matter? What did she do now?"

Ralph knew that when Patty said s _he_ it was in reference to Bri. "Yes, but no. Wrong she."

Patty closed the door. "Go in the living room."

"It's a studio apartment."

"Just sit on the damn futon." Patty followed him across the tiny space and settled in next to him. "What happened?"

"Bri invited me to come to her sonogram. And my mom thinks I should go."

Patty furrowed her brow. "Wait, why?"

"I don't even know. I told her there was no way in Hell I was going and she told me I needed to think about Bri."

" _Huh_?"

"Right?"

"What's her logic?"

Ralph shrugged. "I have no clue. She just told me that I should 'get all of the information' before I make any decisions."

"It sounds to me like she's thinking you might feel something. For the baby, I mean."

He sighed, throwing up his hands. "I'm not going to. Kids aren't my thing."

"I feel you. They're not mine, either." Patty shifted her weight. "What did you say when she said that to you? And what does that have to do with thinking about Bri?"

"I don't…it's possible I'm not remembering her words verbatim. I was super flustered. I do know she raised her voice first, and then we were both just screaming at each other."

Patty was quiet for a long moment, glancing slightly off to the side. Ralph wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but he knew better. Eventually she took a deep breath. "Okay. So, I'm not Toby."

"You are a little young to be Tad and Ellie's father."

"Just a smidge." She gave him a crooked smile before growing serious again, biting her lip as if she was unsure of what she was about to say.

"Patty?"

"I guess what I'm thinking is, maybe your mom's feelings aren't about Bri at all." Ralph cocked his head. "What I mean is, I wonder if, even without realizing it, she's projecting your feelings about Bri's pregnancy on to your feelings about hers."

"I'm happy for her and Walter, though. I've always thought it would be kinda cool to be a big brother."

"Does she know that?"

"I…" he thought back. He was sure he had said so. "I have to have said something like that." Although come to think of it, upon confirmation that Paige was indeed pregnant, his immediate response had been to call it  _fucking weird._  But that had been about the situation, not about her baby. And she and Walter had agreed with his sentiment. "So she might think that me being so disinterested in Bri's baby, I'm going to have the same attitude toward hers? That doesn't make sense. The situations are totally different."

"Of course they are. Abusive relationship versus loving family and all that jazz." Patty accompanied her words with a nod. "That's why I'm saying it might be subconscious."

 _I suppose._ "But I know if I went to her like 'hey mom, is it possible you're projecting?' that would just stir up another argument."

"Are you sure? Didn't you tell me once you called her out on loving Walter weeks before she was able to admit it?"

"That was a long time ago. I feel like lately she's stopped taking what I say seriously.

"Hormones. Plus now that you're gonna be…I mean, now that you're in this situation with Brianna, she's realizing fully that you're not a kid anymore. Years ago, she was allowing you to grow up. Now you're here. She probably doesn't know how to deal with that, along with everything else. You remember how psycho my parents got when I started college."

"Yeah. That was kinda funny."

Patty rolled her eyes, a small grin on her face. "Only because they weren't your parents."

Ralph sighed, putting his head in his hands. "I feel bad that I upset my mom. But I also don't feel like I need to go to this sonogram. I'm not going to feel anything. And it's not like I even want to."

"Because if you do, then you're even more stuck with Bri for the rest of your life." Patty nodded in understanding. "I bet she's trying to get you to go for that very reason. Emotional manipulation."

"I put nothing past her nowadays." Ralph shook his head. "When I was little, I understood how my mom got over Drew. She had no choice. But I never understood why he stopped loving her. I didn't get that that was a thing. How could you swear someone was your everything and go from that to just not caring? And I still don't get it where my mom is concerned. How anyone could stop loving her is beyond me. But I get the other part now. I never told Bri we'd be together forever. Maybe there was a time where I thought we might be. But I loved her. You know that." Patty nodded. Ralph coughed. "And now I can't say I feel nothing, but it's not love. It's very close to the opposite of that."

"Well, no matter what, you don't have to be with her anymore. She can force you to pay out the company's ass for child support but she can't make you date her. You never have to deal with that again. You're free. And you know what they say: don't cry because it happened, smile because it's over."

Ralph thought a moment, then cocked his head. "I don't think that's the phrase."


	9. Chapter 9

Florence paused the video she was watching and took off her headphones before swiveling her chair around until the easy chair was in view. "Hey Sylvester?"

He was holding one of his newer action figures in his hand, squinting at his phone screen. This figure was supposedly a numbered limited edition, but he had grown suspicious over the day that he'd had it that it was a fake. He didn't look at her or give any indication that he had heard, so she tried again, a little louder. "Hey, Sylvester?"

"I said yeah."

"No you didn't."

He finally looked at her, seeming surprised. "I didn't?" At the shake of her head, he put the figure down and shifted his weight toward her. "Whatcha need?"

"Do you ever think about what we're doing?"

It was poorly phrased. She knew this. His confused reaction confirmed it. "You mean like, tonight, or…"

"No. Just in general. Like as a couple."

"Are you having concerns?"

"Yes. No. Not…yes and no. Ugh." She hated that she still got flustered when she tried to talk about things. "I don't have concerns about you. Not at all. The opposite, actually. I am very sure of you."

Sylvester leaned over, stretching his arm out, and she leaned forward until their fingers curled around each other. "Good," he said. "I'm very sure of you, too."

"What I mean is," she said as they settled back into their respective seats, "all this stuff with Ralph has gotten me thinking." She really should have thought of how exactly she wanted to say this before she did. Perhaps even written it down. Sent it in an email complete with bullet points and…she shook her head. No, this was an in – person conversation. "Ever since Brianna announced her pregnancy, it seems that everything else has just…stopped."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's every conversation. We go into work and it's Brianna and Ralph and the situation. And…and I know that we're going to be paying off those debts she put us in for a long time so it makes sense it would come up a lot at the garage. But it's like everyone's personal lives are revolving around it too and...it just sort of got me thinking about what we're doing."

"What…are we doing?"

"Exactly."

Sylvester cocked his head. "I'm sorry, you lost me."

"I mean," Florence said, "Happy and Toby adopted Tad and then had Ellie. Walter and Paige got married and now they're having a baby. Cabe and Allie got married and now they have their side business. And we're…" as she trailed off, she saw Sylvester's face change slightly, and she thought he might be catching on. "We're right where we were when we started. Both of us spent months thinking the other was out of our league and then when we finally got over that, it was great, and it  _is_  great. But it's like we're the side couple in a book. Like the author just forgot about us while progressing everyone else. I'm…I'm not saying anything is wrong. I'm saying…I'm saying I don't know if something is. I don't know how this works. I don't know if lack of progress over more than two years is a red flag."

"I wouldn't say there's been no progress," Sylvester said. "Relationships aren't about the milestones. It's not like we haven't been through things together."

"Well, of course," she said. "And you have enhanced my life in a way that I wouldn't have thought feasible. Our relationship is the best aspect of my being. However." She took a deep breath, "I can't help but worry that our friends all progress much more quickly."

"Do you want more?" Sylvester asked. "Do you want to…get married?"

"I would never ask you to marry again," she said firmly. "Ever. I've told you that."

"And I've told you," Sylvester said, standing up and taking the few steps that separated them, "that you never have to feel guilty about the way I feel about you just because I've been married before."

She knew that just as well as she knew he loved her, but she also knew he would always love his wife. That was something that didn't bother her – and it certainly didn't cheapen her relationship with him – but no matter what he said, she still did feel a tiny bit guilty whenever she woke up from any dreams that featured her wearing a white dress for the first time since her parents forced her into Catholic sacraments. "We've never talked about it. So I just operated under the assumption that it wasn't something you wanted to do again." She felt especially small sitting while he stood in front of her, so Florence pushed her chair back and got to her feet. "I'm not saying we need to get married, I just…you have more relationship experience than me and I need you to reassure me right now."

Sylvester reached out, taking a small piece of lint off of her sweater and letting it drop to the floor. "I'm not an expert on relationships, but I have been very in tune with my feelings since I was an infant. Usually being so aware of things like that is a curse. But when it comes to feeling things  _for_  people, it's the greatest blessing. It's what made me accept my feelings for Megan before it was too late; it's why I did the things that I did for her. And it's what makes me so content with us, just doing what we're doing." He ran a finger through her hair, down her cheek, and booped her nose. "Megan made me realize how wonderful the mundane, day to day parts of a relationship are. And things are so good with us, I've just been enjoying that. To me, we are progressing, because each day is another day in the rest of our lives."

 _The rest of our lives._  Florence felt a blush creeping up into her cheeks.

"You're blushing," Sylvester said teasingly.

"Stop," she said, looking down, trying to keep a smile from overcoming her face. Sylvester moved closer, and she let out a quiet giggle as he pulled her close. "The rest of our lives, huh?" she asked after a minute or two, tipping her head to look up into his eyes.

"Well, I mean," Sylvester said, "I don't have any plans to go anywhere. Unlike that so called limited edition over there. That phony is going right back to his old owner."


	10. Chapter 10

Paige heard Walter's footfalls as he moved about the apartment, but she was engrossed in her book and didn't look up until she felt him sit down on the armrest of the sofa. Dog earing the page – she was just two pages short of chapter twenty three and she had started on fifteen – she set the book in her lap and smiled up at him as he slid an arm down, resting his hand on her far shoulder. "Hey," she said with a soft smile.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good," she said with a nod. "No nausea tonight, so that's good."

"Good. I hope that doesn't mean it will start happening in the morning again. Because breakfast is - "

" – the most important meal of the day," she said right along with him. She patted his knee. "Yes, I know."

He smiled. "I know it's early yet, but I am pretty tired and that mattress is calling my name. Not literally, of course. Mattresses are not sentient or even living creatures and cannot speak. Is there anything you need before I turn in?"

"No," she said, tipping her head to rest against his side. "Thank you, though. I won't be long, just want to finish this chapter."

"Okay." Walter kissed the top of her head. She closed her eyes briefly, opening them when he squeezed her shoulders and stood up. "Night."

"Night, love you," she said, smiling at him again before turning her attention back to the book. It seemed like only a few minutes before she heard her son come home, but when she went to mark the page when he came to stand near her, she discovered she had read another three chapters. She used to read like this, back when she was a kid. It was nice to get back to reading for pleasure again.

She leaned forward and put the book on the coffee table, then settled back. "What's up, honey?"

"I went to the sonogram. Bri's sonogram. The one I told you about."

Paige raised her eyebrows, pushing an Emperor's New Groove reference out of her head because it was most definitely not the time. She felt bad about suggesting Ralph go, in retrospect. She was surprised that he actually did. "You did."

"Yeah. You were right. I needed to go to see if I would feel differently about it."

Paige could tell by his voice that he didn't think she'd been right. But she was most certainly not going to challenge him if he was deciding to be the bigger person. You were supposed to raise your kids to be better than you were. "How did you feel?"

Ralph dropped down onto the couch next to her, one leg tucked up underneath him. He shrugged. "Nothing. It's just some splotches on a screen. It didn't change anything."

Paige nodded. She hadn't really expected it to. Her son was very scientifically minded and likely wouldn't view a fetus as anything but what it was, in technical terms. She bit her lip, continuing to nod. "And Bri?"

"She was more interested in if I was going to feel anything than anything else," Ralph said. "She makes me sick. No kid deserves to be born as a means to an end."

Paige agreed. Bri had already convinced them to give so much money, and this child was just going to be a pawn in her games. It was wrong. But…"for someone who doesn't care at all, you're thinking about the baby's well being quite a bit."

Ralph's expression told her she'd said the wrong thing. "I don't have to have these crazy intense paternal feelings to feel bad for someone who only exists so their mother can use them. That's called just being a decent person."

He was right. "I know, I know," she said, sighing. "I'm not being fair." She scratched the back of her hand. "I just don't want you to regret anything. I don't want you to push feelings away just because you don't think you want them. But if you honestly feel nothing, that's okay. I don't want you to think I'm pushing you to feel any which way. I just want you to understand what your feelings are."

Ralph nodded. "I'm being honest. I don't have any attachment to it."

"Okay. That's okay, Ralph."

There was a short silence, and then he cocked his head slightly to the side. "But you know what I am excited for?"

"Hmm, what?"

"This one." Ralph reached over and placed his hand on her stomach. She wasn't showing yet – her skinny waisted jeans were beginning to protest when she buttoned them but it was still too early for anything noticeable – but he rested it there, smiling at her. Paige felt her heart skip a beat. "Mom, this is how I know I don't love Bri's baby. I have a baseline. When I think about you and Walter having a baby, I feel things. I can't wait to meet her. I can't wait to do all the big brother stuff. So mom," he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Please don't think I'm not looking forward to your baby because I don't want anything to do with the one Bri is having. Because you and Walter giving me a sibling together is like a dream come true. And that's not an exacerbation. Seriously, I've had that dream."

Paige thought she might literally melt. "What on earth did I do," she said, sliding her arm around her son's shoulders as he settled in next to her, "to get a seventeen – year – old like you? They all said you were supposed to hate me, or something. I can't remember. But it sounded pretty insufferable."

"Psssh," Ralph said with a grin. "What do they know?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meet the Quintis kids! I had a ton of fun writing this chapter.

Florence had been told that responding to loud children by releasing a smelly chemical was actually much more inappropriate than doing that to adults. That was a shame, since she could use a break, however brief, from the Quinn – Curtis children (or Quintis, or whatever that silly amalgamation of their parents surnames was) shrieking.

To his credit, her boyfriend was doing his best to keep them entertained, since he knew she struggled with connecting with children. He had to deal with amusing them  _and_  with the screaming. She just had to cope with the noise.

At least, that was the case until Ellie came running over to her, in that funny way that fourteen – month olds run, with her arms out "Vorensssssse!"

She was glad that while Ellie couldn't make the F sound yet, the little girl was starting to use multiple syllables. Vorense was a much more pleasant name than Vore.

"Hi, small thing," she said, reaching down and lifting Ellie to her hip. "Are you having a good day?" Ellie's response was to grin, scrunch up her nose, and screech. "Why don't we try that quiet game next?" She asked. "It's this really fun game where you don't scream in Florence's ear." To her pleasant surprise, Ellie did quiet down. She was less enthusiastic about the girl sticking her tongue out. But this was Toby's child.

Toby's miracle child. All anyone in the group talked about for months after Happy announced her pregnancy, just three months after the adoption papers for Tad were finalized. It had surprisingly been Walter, not Paige or Cabe, who had pointed out that everyone's obsession with how crazy it was that Ellie existed could eventually take a toll on Tad, their first child who according to their fixation on Ellie had the misfortune of having different biological parents.

_I grew up knowing that my sister was normal and I wasn't. Don't let Tad feel like he's not enough. Ever._

Of course, none of them had ever for a moment actually considered Tad any less a Quinn – Curtis child than Ellie. But it was still a reminder they needed.

Maybe that was why Florence, who had taken so long to be fully accepted as a member of the team with no qualifications and still sometimes had flashbacks to the days when Happy thought she was going to single handedly destroy everything Scorpion had worked to become, had always preferred Ellie's older brother. But for reasons she couldn't explain, this tiny little dark – haired ball of energy currently in her arms absolutely adored her.

She was brought out of her thoughts by an insistent tapping at her temple. From the time Ellie was little, Happy had used that as a way of explaining to her that when her father seemingly spaced out, he wasn't ignoring her. "Daddy is thinking" she would say, tapping her own head. It certainly helped the girl from getting upset if she came over to her father and he took a few seconds to realize she was there. However, Ellie had taken to tapping on anyone's head if she was trying to communicate that she understood they were thinking.

"You're right," Florence said to the girl. "Thinking hard."

"Vorenssssse," Ellie said, tucking her head into the crook of Florence's neck. Florence smiled, glancing over at Sylvester, who was teaching Tad "Hot Cross Buns" on the little keyboard that was in the bag of toys that Happy dropped off this morning before going to visit her father. Tad's idea was to smack the keys as hard as he could, rather than the more delicate tapping that Sylvester was using in his example, but he was getting the notes right. Paige would be delighted. Florence wondered if Paige and Walter's baby would be artistically inclined or more on the logical side like Ralph. Tad looked a lot like Toby, despite not being related to him. Maybe Paige and Walter's child wouldn't be anything like either of them. Family was complicated.

"Spoo?" Ellie asked in a high pitched voice, her way of saying she was hungry. Florence would never understand why she would ask for a spoon instead of for food…actually, maybe it was the F sound again.

"Tad, you hungry?" She asked.

" _HOT CROSS BUUUUUNS!_ " He screamed.

"Tad," Sylvester said, pulling the keyboard out of the five – year – old's reach. "Your aunt asked if you were hungry."

"No."

"Tad."

"No thank you, Aunt Flo," he said with a smile.

"That's better," Sylvester said, handing the keyboard back.

"Please don't call me Aunt Flo, Taddy," she said. "It's Aunt Florence."

Tad cocked his head. "Why?"

"Because…never mind. You'll understand when you're older."

* * *

"So the silence may be playing tricks on me here, but I  _think_  we're alone now," Florence said, gesturing to the part of her lab that had only a half an hour ago still been full of toys and shrieking laughter. "You wanna…head upstairs…and…"

It only took a split second of observation to know that he hadn't been thinking the same way. One thing she had learned about Sylvester very quickly was that while he seemingly had no limit to affection, his sex drive was almost nonexistent. If she left initiating things up to him, they probably would only get intimate once every month or two. She was interested less frequently than was probably average, but if it was up to her they would be doing it closer to one time a week. Oftentimes he would agree when she asked, but sometimes she had to accept that he really wasn't up for it and that it had nothing to do with her or his feelings for her.

He reached up to lightly scratch her back. "I'm not really in the mood, sweetheart," he said. "But I can help you if you'd like. Use something, maybe."

She knew he was grateful to her for not being pushy, and likewise she was grateful to him for understanding their needs were different and wanting to meet her in the middle. Leaning in, she pressed a quick kiss to his neck. "Sounds good to me."

"You were really good with Ellie today," he said, kissing her gently and brushing her hair behind her ear. "I know you have a better connection with Tad."

"I suppose it helps that Ellie likes me. For whatever reason. But hey." She kissed him again. "We had the kids all day."

"I know," Sylvester said, reaching an arm under her knees and lifting her legs up so her feet were resting on the coffee table. It made her slide down the sofa cushion a bit, making the hair on the back of her head poof up slightly. He moved his lips to her cheek and then her ear as his fingers undid the button on her khakis. "No more talking about Tad and Ellie, I promise."

"Good," she said with a smile, putting a hand up to cup his face.

And then he slid his hand under the elastic on her underwear and she couldn't have kept a coherent thought in her head if she tried.


	12. Chapter 12

Paige placed an arm over her eyes, her other hand resting on her stomach. "Baby, why do you hate me? I am  _nurturing_  you."

"You okay, waitress?"

She sat straight up in her chair, glaring at Happy. "Okay, why the  _hell_  do you still call me that?" At the surprised blink she got in response, Paige softened. "Sorry, my fuse is a little short today."

"Nauseous?"

"Yeah. But also, just  _so_  tired. And I feel like my organs already can't figure out where to go and I'm not even big yet." She leaned forward, resting her head on her desk. "I forgot how uncomfortable this can be. And I'm only four months. I am literally going to…" she caught herself before saying  _die_  and frantically searched her brain for something that wouldn't make Happy think of her mother. "…be bedridden by the start of the third trimester with the levels of wimp I'm already showing."

"Nah. Your body is just getting used to the fact that it's doing something it hasn't done in almost twenty years. Second trimester is generally the easiest, remember? Then you'll have your second wind for the last few months."

Paige lifted her head and gave a small smile. "When did you become the optimist?"

"My life is in a pretty good, uncomplicated place right now. So it's my turn to try and help those of you with the weird shit."

"My pregnancy is weird shit?" Paige cocked her head. Then, "oh, you mean the whole me, and Ralph, and all that. Yeah. Yeah, no argument from me there."

"Why don't you go lie down or something?" Happy asked. "We're not exactly saving the world today, and the loft is still a bedroom.

The reality was, when Paige wasn't feeling well, her survival instincts kicked in and made her want to work even harder. When she was on her own, trying to make enough money waiting tables to support her and Ralph, feeling sub – par wasn't an option. That wasn't a problem anymore. The company may have used up all their savings trying to help Brianna out, but on a day they didn't have a case – Walter and Florence were out on a small job that didn't require everyone – it wasn't like her laying down for a little while would cost them any money. But it was difficult to fight her instincts. She sighed. "I guess I could."

"Hey, I feel ya," Happy said. "You remember how out of it I was with Miracle Baby. And that means I'm sure you remember how long I fought the fatigue and achiness and how the stress compromised my immune system."

Happy had gotten a cold during her third month and it had hit her like a Mack truck, putting her out of commission for the better part of two weeks. Paige nodded. "I know. Just Walter is out right now and…"

"And you feel like you need to be obsessively supervising the company in his absence. I know. You can be weirdly macho at times." Happy pushed her chair back and stood up. "Come on. You're going to lay down."

"Happy."

"Uh – uh. She held up a finger. "Come with me, Dineen. It's non – negotiable."

Paige supposed she shouldn't remind the mechanic that Dineen wasn't her last name anymore. It was certainly better than  _waitress_.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Happy crossed the room, pulling the covers back and fluffing the pillow. Paige smiled at the sight. On the surface, Happy was the same no – nonsense woman she'd met nine years ago. But the arrival of Tad and Ellie had made her, in many ways, a very typical mother.

"I'll bring you some of that junk that Florence makes to combat nausea," Happy said as Paige slipped between the sheets. "And I think Toby has a heating pad in his desk if your back is bothering you. Using it short term on an isolated part of your body won't raise your overall body temperature, so the baby will be fine." She paused. "I realize you probably know this already."

Paige chuckled. "I think I just need a little down time. But thanks, Happy."

Happy pulled the comforter up over her, smoothing it with her hand. She paused, her palm over Paige's abdomen. "Is it kicking?"

"I wish," she said. "I'm just hungry."

"You think you can keep food down?"

" _Happy_." Paige chuckled again. "You go do your work, I'll be fine. Don't get all mothered out on me and then be too tired to give horsey rides to Ellie when they get home from the beach."

"No, you don't understand," Happy said, sitting down on the few inches between Paige and the edge of the bed. "That crap I have to do is  _so_  redundant. I'm bored out of my skull and Tad had us up all night with his nightmares so it's not like I'm well – rested either. This is a well desired break."

Paige reached over and flipped the covers back on the other side of the bed. "There's room."

Her offer was genuine, but she fully expected Happy to roll her eyes or simply stare at her if she was crazy. It came as a total surprise when Happy appeared to consider the offer, and even more so when she stood up, walked around the foot of the bed, and sat on the exposed sheet, bending to undo her boots before swinging her legs up and laying back against the pillow and pulling the covers around her. She fished out her phone. "Setting an alarm for an hour."

"Oh, good idea," Paige said, yawning. Laying down was helping her nausea and making her realize just how exhausted she actually was.

"Now, just stay over there, okay?" Happy said, raising an eyebrow in warning. "If you try to cuddle I am out of here so fast there will be a Happy shaped hole in that wall."

Paige smirked as she rolled her eyes. "No problem."

* * *

"It's nice to get paid right away," Florence said, bumping the edge of the check against her knee as Walter put the van in drive. "And the bonus for our prompt addressing of the problem is great."

Walter muttered something in response.

"Hey, it's  _something_ ," she said. "Anything is more than nothing."

"Yes, thank you, I have a basic grasp of mathematics."

" _Really_?"

He sighed. "Sorry. Just thinking about how many of these smaller jobs we would have to do to make what we do in a single day of saving the world."

"Has anyone ever suggested suing Brianna for fraud? Or extortion? She faked her home situation  _and_  pretended someone was after her to get that money from us."

Walter shrugged. "Paige and Sly say that since she and Ralph were in a long – term relationship at the time and are only pursuing reparations once she's pregnant, it would be an uphill battle. And that would just involve her in our lives even more than she already is, plus I'm sure she would counter sue for everything baby related. That's not really my area of expertise, though. You should probably bring it up to Sylvester if you haven't already. But even I have seen enough episodes of  _Judge Judy_  to know the courts would probably use the word  _sucker_ to describe us."

"Hmmm." Florence looked out the side window, then abruptly turned back to Walter. "How did you decide it was time to propose to Paige?"

Walter looked surprised, and she supposed she couldn't blame him. They had been married for almost a year at this point, and the engagement period had been nearly a year in and of itself. "I…I don't know. It just got to a point where I thought it was time to ask her. We couldn't imagine life without each other, we had talked about maybe having a child, and there are the tax benefits, which some might say is a terrible reason to get married but it's not like it was the main reason, just a nice perk…" He trailed off. "Why do you ask?"

Florence shrugged. "Well, your anniversary is coming up, and I was just wondering, basically."

"Mmm. Okay." Walter put on his turn signal to make the left onto their street.

"What would you have said if she'd proposed to you?"

Walter glanced at her as he waited for the arrow. "I'm confused. I would have said yes. I love her."

"No, I mean…would you have found it weird? Or would you have thought she'd stolen your chance to propose to her?"

"Well," Walter said. "I suppose with that way of thinking, I stole her chance to propose to me."

Florence should have realized that the person in her life whose brain was wired the most similarly to hers would want her to just be blunt. "So you think it's okay if a woman proposes to a man?"

"It does buck tradition," Walter admitted, "but as Happy would say, some traditions are just full of suckage. I think  _will you marry me_  is a very strange question to be gendered." He glanced at her again. "You planning something?"

She supposed her questions had been fairly obvious, even to someone as generally clueless as Walter O'Brien. She glanced out the window again. "I don't know. Maybe."

"He'll say yes," Walter said, pulling into his spot in front of the garage.

"I guess I just wonder why he…" she bit her lip. "He told me recently that he doesn't always think about us moving forward because he knows he's happy and knows I'm happy and he doesn't feel like anything is missing. And I feel that. But I keep thinking about how the last time, he was married in less than a year."

Walter looked at her with a serious and somber expression. "My sister was sick. They loved each other, but he married her when he did because I was so afraid of losing her I was going against her wishes to prolong her life. When they got married, he got to make the decisions when she couldn't, and he had her best interests at heart, whereas I only thought I did."

Florence wasn't sure how to respond. She thought that Sylvester had told her everything about his relationship with Megan. But he had clearly purposefully omitted some details that would make her brother look bad.

Walter sighed before continuing. "With her, he learned how to live life to the fullest. How to not waste time. If he didn't love you, he wouldn't still be with you after all this time."

"I know he loves me," Florence said quietly.

"So he'll say yes." Walter smiled encouragingly. "Don't think he hasn't asked because something is wrong. You know how hard it is for people like us to let down our walls and be vulnerable, and let people love us. Paige and I talked about that shortly after we got engaged. She said she had thought about asking but wanted to make sure I was ready. She was worried if she asked and I wasn't, I might…what we her words… _totally wig out_."

"I don't know if I'm ready…to ask that is," Florence said. "Not quite yet. Nerves, overthinking, you know. But…" she gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

"I would recommend not overthinking it," Walter said. "You don't have to gather everyone around and play an original song on the piano. Just…if it feels right, do it."

"Who proposes with an original song in front of everyone?"

Florence jumped at the sound of someone tapping on her window, whipping her head around.

"Hey!" Toby said through the glass with a smirk. "Making out?"

Florence undid her seatbelt. "Can you take a tiny step to the left so when I open this door it hits you in the gooty?"


	13. Chapter 13

"And so then, I told him that we would consider his paper for one of the specialized journals."

Patty's expression didn't change. Ralph waited another moment before cocking his head. Patty cocked hers the other way. "Wait, so is that, like, a science diss?"

"Yes."

"Interesting." She shrugged, seeming to mull over his punch line. "Is it a good one?"

"Eh," Ralph admitted. "Basically it's a way of saying that the work is sub par."

"Oooh."

"I had a feeling you'd appreciate it," he said with a laugh.

"Can't have sub par work. It will ruin my chances of grad school."

"You'll get in," Ralph said with confidence.

Patty smiled. "Thanks."

"Yo, Dineen."

Ralph and Patty looked up in unison. Ralph sighed. "Hello, Bri."

She sauntered up, stopping in front of the picnic table. "See?" She asked.

Ralph heard Patty crack her gum. He folded his arms on the table. "See what?" His eyes went to her midsection when she tugged her tank top closer around her. "Oh. You're…showing?"

"You can't tell?"

"I…I guess?" He said. "Maybe?" He couldn't see a thing. He wondered, briefly, if she was just faking the whole pregnancy. But he'd been at the ultrasound. He knew this was real. It was just still a bit early to really be showing, especially for someone built like Brianna.

"It'll be more obvious soon," she said.

"As obvious as that statement?" Patty asked.

Brianna ignored her. "I have another scan this afternoon," she said. "I'm about to take the bus down there. Come with?"

 _Are you actually serious right now_? "No," Ralph said. "We're studying."

"Studying is more important?"

"Considering I want to get into grad school at Stanford, it's pretty damn important, and you don't need me to go to the appointment."

"We really do have a lot," Patty said. Ralph gave her foot a nudge under the table in thanks.

"We, huh? So you're not going with the mother of your child just to hang out with  _her_?"

"What does that mean?  _Her_?" Patty asked, giving Brianna the same stare that usually intimidated. It didn't have the usual effect on Ralph's ex.

Brianna glared. "That's real rich, Ralph. You're  _already_  with her? Is that why you dumped me?"

"What the actual fuck are you talking about, Bri?" Ralph asked.

"Oh, you don't know?" Brianna asked, addressing Patty to Ralph's horror. "He has an obsessive crush on you. Is this get together not a date? Maybe he thinks it's a date and you just aren't aware of that. How creepy."

"Oh, buzz off, Schultz," Patty said. "He doesn't want to go with you because he doesn't want anything to do with you because you're the human version of menstrual cramps and no one wants to deal with that. Coincidentally, that's why the relationship is over, too."

"It's his baby, too. Takes two to tango, if you know what I mean."

"And it takes one to try to take advantage," Patty said. "I can do simple math, too." She waved her hand. "Bye, Felicia. Text us how the appointment goes."

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Have fun with your new girlfriend, Ralphie."

Ralph waited for her to move out of earshot, melting into the crowd, before turning to Patty. "I suppose I should explain that."

"That your ex is a bitch? Oh, Ralph." Patty gave a little laugh. "I'd be more likely to miss Fourth of July fireworks than that."

"No, I mean…" Ralph hesitated. "What she said about me and you."

"Oh." Patty waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

"Well, it was true." He broke eye contact, just for a moment. "I did have an obsessive crush on you. Like four years ago."

"Awwww," Patty said with a giggle. "That's so adorable." She reached out and ruffled his hair.

"Hey, hey!" Ralph said, ducking away. "I was thirteen  _then_ ; I'm not thirteen  _now_!"

"Was I like, your first crush?"

"My first serious one, I guess." He tipped his head. "I really hope this doesn't make our friendship weird."

"Do you still have those feelings for me?"

Ralph shook his head. "No," he said honestly. "You're a great friend and I love spending time with you. But that's it."

She shrugged. "No problem, then."

"Really?"

"Really." Patty curled her fingers into a fist and lightly bumped Ralph's shoulder.

Ralph grinned. "Cool."

* * *

"Are you happy?" Walter asked.

Paige blinked in surprise. It wasn't the type of question she would expect during an afternoon on the couch with  _One Day At A Time_  reruns on the television. She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"It's a straightforward question."

He looked flustered. Paige put a hand on his knee. "Yes. But it's also a straightforward answer. Is something wrong?"

"No." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Nothing's wrong. I just know how stressed you are about Brianna, and how you weren't sure if you wanted to keep this baby, and…"

"Walter, I one hundred percent want this baby."

"I – I know." He took in a deep breath and sighed. "I mean, I know you think a lot about the situation with Ralph. It's wearing on all of us. It has to be the worst for you. And you're so good at being strong. I just want to make this as easy as it can be on you."

"Aw, Walter," she said, reaching over to slid her hand along the side of his face. "You are a million times more attentive than the person in your position the last time I did this – and that's actually saying something, because he did good with this part."

"A million times more?" Walter asked. "Seems an unlikely number. But it makes me look pretty good, so I'll take your word for it."

Paige leaned in and kissed him. "Honestly. You're being absolutely wonderful."

"That is good to hear," he said. "Because I love you. A lot." He moved closer to her, and Paige melted into his arms. Walter rubbed her back, resting his cheek against her hair.

"Walter," Paige said after a moment.

"Hmmm."

She pushed back against him, sitting up. "Baby is moving."

Walter's eyes lit up. "Movement? You feel movement?" He lifted a hand timidly. Paige took his wrist and directed him to what couldn't yet be called a bump but was definitely  _something._  For several long seconds, she felt nothing else. But then there it was again, quick and subtle. She could tell by Walter's frozen expression that he hadn't felt it. Several more seconds passed, and Paige felt it again. This time, her husband's face changed. His eyes lifted to hers. "Wow."

She nodded. "I know."

"I m – mean…this happens all the time, but…"

"Wow," they said again, in unision. Paige slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him in for another kiss.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I flew to New Jersey yesterday for some fun filled adventures but I've been putting the finishing touches on a post – finale – fix – it smut fic and it was getting me frustrated because I usually don't leave finished fics unpublished, so while I had a few minutes before dinner I decided I had time to finish up this chapter and get something out for you guys this weekend.
> 
> Some things are changing in canon, and so too in this fic.

"Hey, Ralphie boy."

"Ralphie boy? I'm…"

"Not ten anymore," Sylvester said with a roll of his eyes. "I know, I know."

"Almost eighteen. Almost one hundred percent an adult."

"You do realize that there's no degree of being a legal adult," Sylvester said. "You're either an adult or you're not. Zero versus one hundred percent."

"So what I said isn't inaccurate."

Sylvester paused a moment, then raised his eyebrows in mock annoyance. "Is there something I can help you with, Ralph _ie boy_."

Ralph glared.

Sylvester smirked. "Sorry."

"Forgiven. There  _is_  something you can help me with, though. Where's my mom?"

"Upstairs with your dad."

Ralph nodded. "Great, thanks." He was several strides from the stair case when he suddenly stopped and turned back toward the human calculator. "Wait, like upstairs as in… _upstairs_ , or just upstairs?"

"You are so very lucky that I actually know what you're asking, Ralph," Sylvester said. "And no, just upstairs."

"Okay. Good." He turned back toward the stairs, then hesitated again. "Can I run something by you?"

Sylvester put down the comic he was reading. "Yeah, shoot."

Ralph came over and sat on the edge of the desk. "I think I need to get out of here for a while. Space. Air. You know."

"So you…you want to like…go to…Spain, or something?"

"No, not  _Spain_ ," Ralph said, looking amused. "My grandma is in New Jersey. I was thinking of flying into JFK. That way there's a ton of stuff there and anyone tracking me wouldn't have a clue why I was there, you know, in case anyone is looking for her they wouldn't think it, you know. Then I could uber or take the train or bus to where she is."

"And you haven't told your parents about it."

"No, but I'm not keeping it some secret. That's what I'm here to tell them. I didn't want to until Grandma and I had figured the logistics out. Planning ahead, you know. I don't really think they'll mind, I just wanted to have it all set. My mom feels better when I have details sorted out instead of doing something on impulse."

"Impulse is terrifying. I'm with Paige on that one." Sylvester gave a quick nod. "Good luck with it."

Ralph gave a small smile. "Thanks."

* * *

 

Truth be told, Paige had been so nervous, so  _what now?_  when Ralph told her he needed to talk to her and Walter about something, that what he ended up telling them was almost a relief.

"I'm still technically a minor," Ralph said. "So I need your permission to go."

Paige glanced at Walter, though she already knew what he would say.  _He's always grown up faster than his peers. And he's done far more dangerous things than flying alone._  After a moment of eye contact between them, she turned back to her son. "You can go, but I want updates when you get through security, get to your gate, get on the plane, land, get in the Uber, get to Grandma, as well as updates every day. Several times."

Ralph nodded. "Yeah, yeah, Mom."

He had a smile on his face, so she didn't chide him for his attitude. "How long do you plan to be gone, exactly?"

"I was thinking a month. But I need to talk to Sylvester about how to handle Bri. I'm not running. I just need some space. But I don't know if I should give her money or something for appointments or those special pillows and socks or whatever. I don't know if not doing that makes me a terrible guy, or if doing it sets a precedent for me supporting the baby."

Paige had absolutely no idea what the right course of action was. "You should talk to Sylvester about that."

Ralph and Walter were staring at her with the same expression. "I literally just said I was going to do that," Ralph said.

 _That's right. He did._  Paige cleared her throat and shook her head. "Right. Sorry."  _Pregnancy brain. My favorite part._

"When do you want to leave, Ralph?"

"Uh, well…" Ralph shifted awkwardly. "There's a reasonably priced non – stop flight day after tomorrow."

Paige had been sitting on the edge of Walter's desk, but upon the realization of  _just_  how soon he was talking, she stood up, put a hand out for balance, and then walked the two steps to her son, pulling him into a hug.

"I love you, Mom," Ralph said.

"I love you too," Paige said, rocking slowly side to side. "And I miss getting to hug my little boy who is half this tall." She released her son, stepping back to hold him at arm's length. "Does your grandma know about things?"

Ralph nodded. "Basically everything. And she says she's completely supportive of me, so you don't have to worry about her trying to trick me into anything."

Paige hadn't had that train of thought – but she knew herself well enough to know that that probably would have found its way into her head and worried her eventually. She stepped closer again and gave her son a brief kiss on the cheek. "I'm proud of you, Ralph. For thinking of everything."

"We're both proud of you, buddy," she heard Walter say as he walked around the table. Paige turned her head toward him and smiled as he slid an arm around her waist.

Ralph gave a little smile. "I was worried about telling you guys," he said.

"You're a good kid, Ralph. And this might be good  _for_  you."

"I agree," Walter said. "As long as you don't take any risks while you're there."

"You mean like drive a car a million miles an hour up a mountain?"

"Exactly like that. You planned this trip. Plan the details.  _Be_  as smart as you are, and you will come back with a clear head."

"Come here, baby," Paige said, smiling as she and Walter curled Ralph into their arms.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so…this is kind of an awkward chapter to post right now because of the heavy Walter/Sly stuff. But…the mail is delivered in rain, snow, sleet, or hail, so I guess fic writers bring content despite finales, shakeups, love triangles and breakups? (I'm mad that that rhymed but I'm not deleting it.) I don't consider this canon divergent – it's set far enough in the future that stuff is long fixed.

"Ralph get sent off okay?" Sylvester asked.

"Yep," Paige said, with a tired sigh that made it sound more like  _yeahp._  "His flight took off a few minutes ago, so he'll be there by six. It'll take him a good hour or more to get to my mom's place after that, though. I told him to fly into Newark, but he's convinced that might tip anyone off who may be looking for her."

"Newark is one of the three major airports affiliated with New York City," Walter said. "That wouldn't tell anyone he was staying in New Jersey, and at this point it's highly unlikely anyone is actually looking for Veronica."

"Just be glad that he cares enough to take the extra precautions, I guess," Paige said with a shrug. "I'm gonna go upstairs and change. Random pregnancy sweating is fun."

"Oh," Sylvester said, gesturing to Toby's desk. "Cabe dropped muffins off before his meeting."

"Excellent." Paige took a quick detour to the desk, grabbed two muffins, and tossed one to Walter before heading for the stairs.

"I do love muffins," Walter commented before taking a bite. They were…he'd learned not to say  _moist_ , but he hadn't really been provided with an alternative adjective. He noticed Sylvester was looking at him a bit timidly, so he wiped a crumb from the corner of his mouth and looked at him curiously. "Sly?"

"Walt, can I uh, can I ask you a personal question?"

Walter took another bite of his muffin and shrugged. "I mean, I'd prefer that you not. But I won't go as far as to forbid it."

Sylvester narrowed his eyes slightly as he processed the response. "Okay, well I heard 'yes' so, um…" He shifted. "How often do you and Paige, you know," he dropped his voice into an almost comical whisper, "have sex?"

"Oh, no," Walter said. "No kissing and telling. This falls under kissing and telling. Paige always says no kissing and telling."

"Paige told me about the time she tied you up and used a vibrator on your balls and you – "

"Three to four times a week, we do it three to four times a week, please stop talking." Walter glanced over his shoulder.

Sylvester raised an eyebrow. "Paige is the only other person in this building and she knows. And according to her, half the street probably does too."

"Why are you doing this? And where's Florence?"

"She's out with Happy. That's why I wanted to talk to you now."

"I'm confused. Florence wants to know how often Paige and I h…have sex?" It had been a long, long time since anything was awkward with Florence and Paige. But if she was suddenly making inquiries into their private life, that would end the streak really fast.

"No. No, I just…" Sylvester wrung his hands. "Before Paige you always seemed so…I don't know how to put this… _disinterested_  in all of that."

"I suppose that's true," Walter said. "I was even more focused on science and math and research than I am now, and I guess I'm just not someone who thinks about physical intimacy unless there's someone specific that I want it with."

"Okay, that's exactly my worry," Sylvester said. "I love Florence. And it's not like we don't have sex, okay? We lost our virginities to each other. We do it…twice a month? Maybe? And I know if it was up to her we would be more active. I think it's like you. She wasn't interested but once she's in a relationship she is. And it's not like I'm  _not_  interested, it's just not something I actively want all the time and that didn't change when I got into a relationship like it did for you and I don't know if…"

"Sly."

He looked startled, as if he hadn't really realized he was still talking. "Sorry."

"Do you…" Walter hesitated.  _Dammit, I hate knowing things about people's relationships that I can't talk about._ "Do you think that's a problem? In your relationship with her?"

"I don't. And she doesn't either, at least…at least that's what she's told me. But last night…we did it last night, and afterward she was all cuddled up to me and said that she could stay like that forever. And I know she meant it and that's supposed to make me feel good but I just felt…well, I felt guilty."

"Because…you think you…aren't offering her…enough?" Walter asked slowly.  _She wasn't saying she wants to be intimate more often. She wants to marry you._ "Because you guys are good with communication, y – yes? So she would tell you if she…if she wasn't, uh…"

"You're right, you're right." Sylvester nodded. "Maybe I'm overthinking it. But she asked me not too long ago if I ever worried our relationship was stagnant. And it's made me feel a little less sure. I just keep wondering if maybe something needs to change, and us…doing it more, that would be a change."

"Do you always turn her down when she suggests it? Is it always on your terms?" Walter briefly wondered why Sylvester didn't go to Toby, but the answer was clear almost immediately – Toby was never non – sexual, even when single, and Toby would make it into some big analysis. What Walter and Sylvester were doing now wasn't a session. It was a conversation.

"No." He shook his head. "I agree sometimes, I say no sometimes. And even when I say no, it's not like it's always just 'not tonight, honey.' If she needs something, I uh…I'll help her along a bit. If you know what I mean, like sometimes…"

Walter held up his hand. "Again. Stop talking."

"Ahem, sorry."

"Trust me, Sly. Florence isn't worried about that. She's perfectly fine with how things are between you two right now."

Sly cocked his head. He didn't seem to have reached suspicion, but he was in that general area. "How would you know that?"

"Because she and I are similar in how we work and how we react to things. And we're friends. Friends tell each other when something is wrong, right?"

"She hasn't said anything to you?"

Crap. A question worded in a way that he technically had to lie.  _Wait, no…_  "She's never told me that she is frustrated or unsatisfied with any aspect of your relationship."

Sylvester nodded. "Good, good. I feel better."

"Good. Now excuse me." Walter gave a smile before turning and heading for the stairs. "Ah, there you are," he said when Paige came into view. She was at the mirror she had installed, her arms over her head.

She turned. "Hey."

"Hey. So why are you telling Sylvester about the weird stuff I let you do to me?"

"Playing with your nipples is not weird," she said immediately.

"Not what I was talking about," Walter said, "but good to know he also knows about that."

"We're friends, we talk," Paige said, walking over to him. "Stuff comes up in conversation, it's not like you roll off me and I reach over to text him. He's told me some stuff, too."

"What about kissing and telling?"

"I mean, it's one thing to brag, to tell  _everyone_ ," Paige said. "But mentioning a few things to friends…" she shrugged. "You can tell him something about me, you know, like that time that you…"

"Uh uh," Walter said, holding up a finger. "I get to decide."

She gave him a playful roll of the eyes. "Fine. What are you going to share?"

He shrugged, giving a playful smirk. "I haven't decided yet."


	16. Chapter 16

Paige had always been physically affectionate, but Walter didn't think he'd ever left the bed during the night since she'd gotten pregnant. It was difficult to do so when she was laying halfway across him, her head on his shoulder or chest with an arm wrapped around him. He'd taken to turning the air on before getting into bed so he wouldn't be woken up during the night sweaty and unable to move without waking her up. For all her complaints about her excessive sweating, she still sought him out at night, sometimes only half conscious and a few times seemingly out like a light.

It wasn't much different now, the two of them on the upstairs couch watching television and waiting for Ralph's flight to get in. The others had left for the day – Tad wasn't feeling well and Sylvester had to meet Patty for one of her field studies – and Walter had thought that some quiet time would do the both of them good. When they'd gotten back together years before, both had promised to make more of an effort. He had been surprised to discover that he actually  _enjoyed_  not talking about science twenty – four – seven.

He still wasn't finding this particular program incredibly interesting, but he wasn't sure Paige did either, since she was nestled against him and her breathing suggested she was asleep. Asleep, just like the arm that was pinned between her and the back of the couch, but he didn't dare try to move it. Another pregnancy symptom – an odd one, but one the doctor said wasn't anything to be concerned about – was a period of confusion if Paige was woken up as opposed to rising naturally, usually about where she was. Walter wondered if it was a residual fear dating back to when she carried Ralph – often waking up in a new place due to Drew's constant tryouts and transfers. Whether it was or not, he didn't want to disturb her. Even if his arm was asleep or he had to pee, the usual problem with waking up pinned down.

With the way she was curled up next to him, her shirt twisted enough that it was now clear she was pregnant. She could still hide it when standing, when her clothing fell naturally, but under the right circumstances there was now tangible evidence of their baby's existence, going off of nothing but sight. It exhilarated and terrified him. This baby wasn't Ralph. This baby would come into his life before he would know how their brain worked, before he would know the best way to connect. This baby would be shaped by both of them from day one. He was confident that Paige wasn't capable of messing up parenting. He was far less confident in himself.

"Mmm, Walter," she mumbled, shifting her weight and lifting her head.

"Hey," he said, kissing her forehead. "You have a good nap?"

"Sorry," she said with an embarrassed smile, brushing her hair back and then using the hand to cover her mouth as she yawned. "Second trimester is supposed to be the one where you feel energetic. And yet I'm so sleepy all the time, it seems."

"I wouldn't say it's pregnancy related," Walter said. "I mean, not necessarily; there's a lot going on. Sleep is a good way for a person to heal."

"Then I hope I don't have a lot of healing to do in the third trimester," she said with a little laugh. "I'd never get out of bed. Although I suppose that doesn't sound so bad, as long as you're next to me."

Walter kissed her forehead again. "Wouldn't dream of being anywhere else."

Paige grinned, then looked over at the television. "This show is pretty boring, huh?"

"Oh no, I mean, I wouldn't say  _boring_  is the right – oh." He cut himself off when she crawled into his lap and placed her lips on his neck. "Yes, very boring. Very boring indeed."

* * *

Ralph wasn't entirely sure which airport was larger, but perhaps due to his lack of familiarity with JFK, it made LAX seem, to him, like the type of small town midwestern airport with one runway and one flight to Canada that technically allowed the word "international" in the name.

It was stupid. It's not like he had never been to a strange airport before.

And yet everything felt like sensory overload. Ralph found a gate that had just started to have people accumulate around it – nonstop to Orlando – and sat in one of the seats in the corner, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his forehead on them, taking in long, deep breaths.

An automated sounding voice came over the P.A. system, announcing that John F. Kennedy International Airport was in the Eastern time zone.  _Good,_ Ralph thought as he lifted his head and reached for his carry – on bag,  _it'll be socially acceptable to sleep sooner._

He located baggage claim and sat against a pillar while waiting for his suitcase. His phone buzzed, a text from Walter.  _Put some money into your account. Don't make your grandmother feed you too much._  Ralph swiped downward, pulling the rest of his notifications, and his eyes boggled at the amount that had been deposited.  _We can't afford that!_

_We'll manage. We got a couple jobs later in the week. Don't worry about us._

But he had to worry about them. If it wasn't for  _his_  relationship, they wouldn't have nearly had to sell the garage. They wouldn't be taking jobs that were too much risk for too little reward.

Speaking of, he had three texts from Bri that he could tell from the previews were unimportant, so he swiped the notifications off the screen without opening them. Glancing up, he saw his bag going right by him. Startled at how quickly it had come around, he jumped up, his phone falling off his knee and clattering to the ground. Ralph grabbed the phone, darted over and pulled the bag off the conveyor, then let out a breath, ignoring the odd looks from the people around him.

* * *

"This your home, or you visiting?" Asked the Uber driver, who was named Caleb, according to the app.

"Visiting," Ralph said. "From the west coast."

"You ever been to the area before?"

"A few times, I guess. When I was younger."

"And it looks like we're going to the Atlantic Highlands?"

"Yes." He wished the driver wouldn't ask so many questions, even though confirming the destination was innocent enough and the other questions were not at all invasive. He hoped that limiting his answers to one or a few words would give Caleb the idea that he didn't want to talk.

"Sounds good to me. I'm originally from New Jersey. Hate it in this godforsaken city, but the husband didn't want to live so far from work."

"Ah. Makes sense." Ralph buckled his carry on – the one carrying his laptop – into the seat beside him.

Thankfully, Caleb made only minimal small talk on the hour and twenty – minute drive. It occurred to Ralph less than halfway through that it would have made more sense to take the ferry, but he would still have needed a ride to his grandma's house, and he wasn't at all sure how many Uber drivers were hanging around the dock. Plus there was the wait time – Uber was able to get him started on this last leg of his journey earlier.

"This is where you want to be dropped?" He asked, seeming confused when his GPS told him he'd arrived and the location was a Sunoco.

"Yep," Ralph said. "The person I'm staying with works here."

"Ah. Well, I hope you have a wonderful stay. Get into the city a bit if you can. I know I was talking a bit of shit, but it's not a bad place to visit. Your friend is just smart not to live there."

"I'll see what plans we can make. Thank you for the ride."

Ralph headed into the gas station, used the bathroom, and bought a few snacks. He figured ten minutes was a long enough time, and Caleb would be long gone when he re – emerged out onto the street. Veronica didn't work here. He was still nearly a mile from her house.  _Gotta make sure she's safe. I can't let my mistakes hurt anyone else._

The fact that the entire mile was uphill seemed to be fitting for his situation. By the time he reached the small blue home, and despite the cool breeze, Ralph was sweating as much as his mother.

Veronica didn't seem to care one bit, throwing her arms around Ralph almost before he got out "hi, Grandma."


	17. Chapter 17

"Oh, dear," Veronica said. "I already knew, of course, that Bri tricked the team into thinking she was desperate and needed money, but I don't think I quite knew the extent. She had you all convinced there were people  _after_  her?"

"Totally convinced. And we didn't look into it because we knew her, she was my girlfriend, we believed her." Ralph shook his head. "She was a part of our family and we don't question family. I guess we should have."

"It's a real shame she found it necessary to betray all your trust like that, and all for greed," Veronica said, shaking her head in disbelief. "And considering the fact that it's me saying that…"

"The irony was not lost on me," Ralph said.

"How much did she gyp you out of? What's wrong?" She asked when Ralph cringed.

"Uh…that word you just used? It comes from…it's a slur, you shouldn't use it."

"It  _is_?"

"Yeah. Like the N word, just people here don't realize it because the group that it's used against historically live in Europe." Ralph cleared his throat. "But uh, anyway, she cheated us out of nearly a quarter of a million dollars."

If it wasn't such a large number he would have rolled his eyes at her response, gasping and putting both hands to her mouth. "She convinced you she needed  _a quarter of a million dollars?_ "

"Yeah, none of us are proud of that." But she'd been so convincing, so scared… "We had had bigger issues before. And we all had taken turns needing each other. We just considered it her turn. She said she couldn't give us too many details, because of Tad and Ellie and because she knew Walter and my mom were trying to get pregnant…she said she wanted to keep us out of danger."

"She saw the wonderful thing you all have going on and took advantage of it." Veronica said. "Oh, if only I could come to town…"

"Don't, Grandma."

"I won't. I'm not an idiot anymore." She brushed some hair behind her ear. "But I've lain awake at night before wishing I could make her sorry, and I know I will again." She tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "Well, sweetheart, you're here now, and you can stay as long as you'd like. There's not much space, but you have the spare bedroom, and we've got the beach, and some hiking, and we can go into Manhattan if you want, anything. I work from home, so I can organize around you, and if you want to be by yourself, that's okay too."

"Does it bother you?" Ralph asked. "That I want nothing to do with the baby?"

"If it bothered me, would I let you stay here?"

"I guess not, but…it's just…that baby is your great – grandchild."

"And you're my grandchild," she said. "Everyone deserves to have the family they're ready to have. You're not a bad person for not being ready; she is for keeping this child just to have a hold on you."

"Everyone says that. Everyone says they support me. But I can't help but think..."  _that deep down, you're all saying that because you think it's what you're supposed to say. That you hate my guts but don't want to tell me._

"Ralph, I would love to live to see a great - grandchild, and with your mother and I both becoming parents as teenagers, that's very likely even if you don't become a father for another decade or more. But I don't get to make that decision for you. You should be able to choose when you become a father, if you decide to at all. And at the end of the day, I love you way more than a hypothetical future."

She stood up and turned, adjusting the blinds. Ralph stood up too, and when she turned back to him, he put his arms back around her. "Thanks, Grandma."

"I wasn't there for your mother," Veronica whispered as she hugged him close. "I want to be there for you. I don't have the money to pay the team's debts, but if I can be a place for you to regroup, don't hesitate to ask me for anything you may need. This home is your home for however long you want it to be."

* * *

_Dear Ms. Florence M. Tipton,_

_My name is Mitchell Duncan, and I represent Duncan & Burgess, a company that specializes in chemical experimentation. Recently we have hit a bit of a dead end on one of our projects and as we make it our business to know about the top performers in fields relevant to our work, we know you are responsible for many disasters being averted in the Southwest over the past five years. We need someone to help us potentially prevent a huge loss, and we can pay handsomely. If you are interested in more details, please call us at 555-122-1937 between nine and five – thirty Monday through Friday, or reply to this e – mail to let us know when we may contact you. Time is of the essence; this project will need to be completed within a month, start to finish. Again, we can make it very much worth your while._

_\- Mitchell Duncan II, CEO, Duncan and Burgess_

Florence, also someone who made it her business to know about top performers in fields relevant to her work, had heard of Duncan & Burgess. She had even met Mr. Burgess, briefly, shortly after she and Sylvester had started dating. He was a slightly odd fellow, but she knew she wasn't really one to talk, and he and Mitchell Duncan always seemed to be straight shooters. They operated out in the desert, mostly above ground, but had large storage tanks beneath the Earth's surface that housed various failed experiments that it was too dangerous to dispose of. Without knowing anything else, she assumed they probably wanted her to create something that would strengthen the tanks to prevent leakage into the ecosystem. It was a similar concept to Scorpion's Chernobyl mission years before she'd joined the team, but this time the seal would have to come from the inside. She was confident she could do it, if that was the nature of their inquiry. She would just need to create something with an attraction to the sides of the tanks that would cling to them and harden while within.

It wasn't the job for an ordinary chemist, but Ms. Florence M. Tipton was no ordinary chemist, if she did say so herself.

Of course, she was only assuming what the job might be, but it made the most sense, and she was certain whatever else they might need would be well within her skillset. Florence reached for the phone, two parts of the e – mail jumping out at her as if they were flashing neon.

… _and we can pay handsomely…we can make it very much worth your while._

If this job was lucrative enough, Team Scorpion wouldn't have to struggle anymore.


	18. Chapter 18

"Walter, Walter, Walter!"

Paige appeared from the control center, running toward him. He held out his arms, pulling her into them as she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank God."

"It wasn't as close a call as it looked," he said. "Isn't that right, Sly?"

Sylvester's skin was still several shades lighter than normal. "If you say so."

Walter put a hand up to briefly cradle the back of Paige's head before they separated. "I swear," he said. "We had it under control."

"Right," Paige said. "That's why Sylvester's life flashed before his eyes so intensely I could practically watch it."

"Well, you know, I overreact," Sylvester said. "You okay, Paige?"

She rolled her eyes. "As much as I appreciate the concern, I'm not so fragile that something will happen to the baby just because this team is doing a harrowing job. I've spent almost ten years training my body to have a probably unhealthy level of chill in these situations."

"Oh," Walter said, smiling and looking down between them.

"Is she kicking?" Sylvester asked, his eyes lighting up. Paige reached out for his hand, guiding it to her middle. Sylvester smiled. "Incredible."

"You're not correcting him on the sex," Walter said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have something to tell me?"

"Nah," she said. "But everyone keeps saying it's a girl and I've just given up."

"Sylvester, I swear to God, if you do that to me again…"

Florence was marching out of the barn adjacent to where Paige had been waiting. She was walking like she was angry, but then she aggressively threw her arms around Sylvester and stayed perfectly still, her head buried in his chest as he hugged her back and rocked gently from side to side. "It's okay," he said soothingly. "It wasn't as close a call as it looked."

Paige rolled her eyes.

"Uh, so, about that," Walter said, waiting to continue until she looked at him. "I know we said we didn't want to know, but…do you have a preference?"

"Boy or girl?" Paige shook her head. "No. I just want a healthy baby. Boy, girl, neither, who cares. As long as they let us love them an obnoxious amount, I'm happy."

"Well, if they don't, we'll have a pretty big problem," Walter said with a chuckle. He pulled her close again. Her scent was calming. And it had been a much closer call than he wanted to admit. But the job had paid well and would put a bit of a dent in their debts…or rather, it would pay their bills this month so they didn't have to sink deeper into what they owed. And that was something. It was something to be glad of.

* * *

"Did you die?" Ellie asked the moment they walked into the garage.

"No, dummy," Tad said reaching over to smack her lightly on the back of the head.

"Taddy Bear, no hitting," Happy scolded.

"If they died, they wouldn't be alive," Tad said, as if he couldn't fathom the idea that his sister's question didn't warrant his action.

"Hard to argue with that logic," Paige said, giving the Quintis children an amused smile as she dropped her jacket on her chair. "Did you guys have a good day working with Mama and Daddy?"

"Yes!" They chorused.

"They were conveniently moved out of sight of the screens when it got a little dicey," Toby said. "But they very much enjoyed the more kid friendly parts."

"Team Scorpion!" Ellie screeched, throwing her hands in the air.

"Team Scorpion!" Tad threw his own hands up.

Ellie ran up to Paige. "Sleep with baby?"

"You getting tired, sweetheart?" Paige asked, running her fingers through the toddler's hair. Ellie nodded. "Okay." She reached down and hoisted the girl up to her hip, carrying her over to the couch and settling down. She wasn't big enough yet for her belly to serve as a pillow, so she grabbed one and set it in her lap. Ellie settled down, her ear pressed against Paige's stomach and placing a hand against it. "Baby."

"Yep," Paige said, mouthing a  _thank you_  at Sylvester when he brought her the paperwork she needed to read over. She gently rubbed the little girl's back while propping up the paperwork with her other hand and giving it a once over. "Yep, the little baby is in there. Just a couple of months before you meet him or her!"

"Fa – wend."

"Yes. Yes, you'll be friends. Uncle Walter and Auntie Paige's baby will love having you for a friend. Your brother, too."

"Ellie's fa – wend."

"Yes." Paige smiled when she felt the baby kick and heard Ellie's giggle of delight. "Yes, Ellie's friend."

"I'm glad she's starting to pronounce the F sound correctly," Paige heard Florence say to Happy. "It was a little strange being called  _Vorence_."

"Do you let them call you Flo?" Paige asked, hoping she would hear.

She did, turning toward Paige with an eyebrow cocked. "As in Aunt Flo? Not on their life."

"Aunt Flo! Aunt Flo!" Tad said with a grin. Florence's face tightened and the boy dissolved into giggles.

"Yeah," Happy said. "This kid likes pushing buttons as much as his father. We couldn't have biologically created a child more like Toby in that respect."

Tad was clapping his hands together. "Aunt Flo! Aunt Flo!"

"Tad, cut the shit," Happy said.

"Happy!" Paige said, eyes wide.

"There are worse things in the world than kids knowing cuss words," Happy said.

Tad was jumping up and down, gleefully pointing at his mother. "She said a dirty word! She said a dirty word!"

"It's not a dirty word, see," Toby said. "A dirty word would be more like – "

"Toby, do not finish that sentence," Happy warned.

He turned to Tad and winked.

Over near Walter's desk, he and Cabe surveyed the interactions in the living area. "You have all that to look forward to," Cabe said, making a fist and lightly pushing his knuckles against Walter's shoulder. "But seriously, look forward to it."

"I am," he said. "Although Happy and Toby manage to make chaos seem easy."

"You will, too," Cabe said. "You and Paige will fall into a rhythm. Your dynamic will change a bit, but you two will figure it out. And then people like Sylvester and Florence will be looking at you two and wondering how you've got such a good handle on the craziness of parenting a young'un."

"I know I'm already a dad," Walter said. "But parenting a baby is going to be so different. I've never been responsible for someone's education, their worldview…everything, right from the start. I know Paige will do wonderfully – Ralph is a testament to her – but…"

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Cabe said. "Paige is the most responsible for the man Ralph is becoming, but you know he wouldn't be who he is today without you, either. You were almost right, when you said you were already a dad. You're already an  _incredible_  one."

Walter smiled. "Thanks, Cabe. Coming from you that…that means a lot."

Cabe smiled back. "I believe in you, kid."

Walter turned back toward the others. Toby had his hand on Happy's shoulders as she hunkered down near Tad, handing him the bag to pick up his toys. Sylvester walked up behind Florence, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her back against his chest. And his wife was brushing some hair back behind Ellie's ear, her other hand over where the little girl's smaller hand rested on Paige's slowly growing belly.

Walter smiled.

* * *

_Even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you, honey._


	19. Chapter 19

Florence was mildly surprised when she entered the garage to find only one member of the team. "Where's everyone else?"

Paige looked up and shrugged. "Toby and Happy took the kids to the aquarium. Or the zoo. Or the planetarium. They took the kids somewhere."

"And Walter?"

She shrugged again. "Wasn't my turn to watch him. Where's Sly?"

"Working on some stuff with Patty."

"Ah." Paige gave a small nod. "Were you looking for somebody?"

"No, I was just going to walk down to where the ice cream truck has been parked and was going to see if anyone wanted to come." Florence had intended that to be the end of her sentence, but it occurred to her that maybe she had to be more obvious. "Do you want to come?"

"I haven't had lunch ye – actually screw it, yes, ice cream sounds incredible right now." Paige pushed her chair back and stood up, grabbing her purse. "Lead the way."

Florence held the door open for her. "How is Ralph doing in New Jersey?"

"He seems to be okay," Paige replied. "The change of scenery should be good for him."

"I suppose, though with all the internet usage, I'm not sure change of scenery really means what it used to."

"Ralph doesn't like being cut off from the world," Paige said, "but being in a different place should still hopefully help him."

"I can see that," Florence said, "because he's not under the pressure of every day life since he's not where he normally is."

"Exactly." Paige kicked at a loose piece of concrete and watched it skitter ahead of them. "Plus, they say sea air is good for you, and my mom lives closer to the ocean than we do."

"I spent a bit of time on the coast of South Carolina when I was a kid," Florence said. "Well, it was only a summer, but it felt like forever. The ocean air definitely makes you feel alive. Even for someone who everyone called dead inside."

She was joking, and a smile was on her face, but she could tell that Paige detected the bit of residual hurt. She looped her arm with Florence's. "We all had those dead inside periods growing up. The people who call other people that just lack the ability to understand how complex we all are."

"I suppose I can get behind that way of thinking," she said with a smile. "So not to bring up a super exhausting subject, but how are our books looking?"

Paige sighed. "They could be worse. We'll be able to make all our payments next month, but the problem is when you can't afford to make more than minimums, it all keeps adding up. But if you pay more than that, you might not have enough left to make the minimums the next month if we don't get jobs."

"Mmm hmm." Florence nodded. "That's what a lot of people don't understand about being poor. It traps you. It's not as simple as 'save five bucks a week' because what if your car breaks down? What if your pants rip beyond repair and you need to get a new pair for work?"

"Tell me about it," Paige said. "I got so much crap from people before I came to work for Scorpion. 'Why don't you just save?' Wow, thank you, I hadn't thought of that."

"So I might have a job," Florence blurted, surprising herself. She'd been planning to keep it a secret. "I mean…"

Paige turned toward her. "A job? Like…like a job for us, or a new job for you?"

"For me," Florence said, immediately realizing how Paige had interpreted her answer. "I mean, I'm not leaving Scorpion. I just mean it's a job, some people want to hire me to do some chem work for them. And if I'm successful, that would really, really help us get back on our feet."

"Have you told the others about it?"

The question was casual, but Florence had to fight down an urge to get defensive. "No, and I'd really, really appreciate if you didn't either. I don't want to…I don't believe in jinx but in case it doesn't work out I would rather they not know so no one is disappointed in me."

"Aw, Florence," Paige joked. "It's been years since any of us have been disappointed in you."

They were approaching the ice cream truck. Florence rolled her eyes. "Shut up and pick what you want."

"I'll just have the fudge bar," Paige said. "Do you have the kind with the shaved nuts on the outside?"

"We do." The attendant looked at Florence. "For you, ma'am?"

"Fudge bar as well."

"Nuts or no?"

"I prefer nuts," Florence said. "Though I fully support the women who don't."

Paige snorted, almost dropping her ice cream.

* * *

Veronica had suggested he go for a walk. Not use his phone. Unplug. "It might help you relax," she'd told him.

Ralph loved his grandma, but that was just another way that she didn't understand him. Unplugging didn't lower his stress levels. Being connected, knowing what was going on, he needed that. Turning off his gadgets wasn't going to help him "find himself." That wasn't the way his brain was wired. He  _needed_  that connection.

Thankfully, he was too far from home to be expected to actually surrender his phone to his grandma before heading out. He took his tablet out of his bag and put it on her kitchen table for show, and then headed out down the hill, leaning back slightly to prevent himself from getting too much momentum. He bought a bottle of water at the Sunoco – Smart Water because of the athletic cap, not because the name wasn't ridiculous and misleading – and kept walking.

The people who lived up on the hill were called goat hillers. The ones who resided in lifted houses down by the shore were the clammers. They were called clammers because of the industry they would have certainly worked in decades before. Why the people up top were called goat hillers – at least the goat part of it wasn't self-explanatory – Ralph had absolutely no idea. He'd asked, but his grandma hadn't had a clue either.

It was cool here, much more so than in Southern California, but Ralph didn't mind. It almost felt refreshing, despite making his long sleeves seem as thin as a piece of tissue. Or as thin as the toilet paper in his grandma's house, what even  _was_  that stuff? Ralph rubbed his arms, shifting the water bottle to his other hand. It really was quite ridiculous that boys couldn't carry bags without ridicule. Sure, he had pockets that the women's section could only fantasize about, but it wasn't like his water bottle could fit in there.

 _Is that Smart Water in your pocket or are you just happy to see someone?_ God, Toby wasn't even here and Ralph  _still_  couldn't get away from his sense of humor.

There was a small restaurant to his left, with "come in and chill" on the old – fashioned sign. Ralph peered in curiously. There seemed to be roughly two dozen people inside, but the way they were all laughing and hugging and shouting to be heard across the room, it seemed to be the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and while it gave off the facade of being friendly, you were  _really_  only welcome if you were local. That was how the world had seemed to Ralph before Walter O'Brien.

He hadn't felt like that in years.


	20. Chapter 20

"So this guy is sitting at the bar, right? And this other guy comes in and sits down and takes this little man that's about a foot tall out of his pocket, and the little man has a piano, and he starts playing it, right?"

"Who has a pocket big enough for something a foot tall and a piano?" Ralph asked. He'd only known Will Pauley for twenty minutes, but the Middletown native had way too much energy for him. Unfortunately, they were the only two at the beach, and Will hadn't seemed to take Ralph's intense examination of the local algae as a hint that he didn't want to be best friends.

"Just go with it, okay?" Will asked. "So anyway, the first man asks how he got the little piano guy. And the second man says, well, there's a genie across the street and he grants everyone a wish. The first man thinks that's pretty cool, so he heads over to see the genie. Genie says, what can I do for you? And the man says, well, mister Genie, I would like you to grant me a wish for a million bucks. The genie says okay, and presents the man with a million tiny ducks.  _Not ducks! Bucks!_ Sorry, Genie says, that was your one wish. So the guy goes back to the bar and says to the second man, that Genie is a fraud! I asked for a million bucks, and he gave me a million ducks instead!" Will stopped for breath. "And the man says, yeah, you think I asked for a twelve inch pianist?"

Genital humor. Ralph's favorite. He rolled his eyes and gave what he thought was an amused chuckle. "That's clever, Will."

The boy grinned. "My mom got a bit testy when I told her that one." He elbowed Ralph in the ribs. "Get it?"

"Hilarious." Ralph marked something in his notebook. "This seems like a fairly healthy beach."

"Uh…sure!" Will said with a smile. "We don't litter, and stuff. Local pride, and all that. But anyway, you wanna get out of here and go to a movie or something? There has to be a Star Wars or Avengers in theaters."

Ralph supposed it would be another way to get out of his own head. He supposed his research could wait until later – especially since he hadn't really decided what he was researching yet. "Yeah, sure."

"Great. Maybe you can tell me another joke on the way."

"Oh, I actually have another good one."

Ralph cringed inwardly.  _Why did I ask for this?_

"So this businessman is in New York City, right? Oh!" He pointed in the city's general direction. "It's right over there, you and your granny should go on Friday with my mom and I! Anyway, so the businessman had a really unsuccessful trip, no money. He walks out and sees only one available cab, asks the cabbie to take him to the airport. Fifty bucks, cabbie says. I don't have fifty bucks, the man says, but I will pay you when I get home, I promise, I'll pay double even, please just help me out. Cabbie says no. Guy gets out and finds another way home. He comes back a few months later, and this time has a great, majorly successful business trip. He walks out to see a whole line of cabs. At the back is the guy who refused to take him to the airport months before. So he gets into the first cab. How much for the airport? He asks. Fifty bucks, says the cabbie. The man says, okay, if I pay you a hundred, will you give me a blow job?"

Ralph groaned inwardly.

"The cabbie is super upset, no, he says, get the hell out of my cab. So the guy goes to the next cab and asks the same thing. Gets kicked out. Does this all the way down the line until he gets to the last cab, which is driven by the guy who didn't do him a solid the last time. He gets in, how much to the airport? Fifty bucks, the cabbie says. Businessman says great, let's go." When Will stopped for breath again, Ralph wondered how he could say so many words on one. "The cab pulls out and slowly begins to drive past the line of other cabs. Guy rolls down the window and looks at them and does this." Will put an overly enthusiastic grin on his face and gave two thumbs up.

Ralph pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing out loud. "Okay, that's actually a good one."

Will bowed. "Thank you." He glanced at his phone. "Aw, shit. My mom needs me at home. Raincheck on the movie?"

"Uh, sure."

Will flashed a smile. "Cool. See you around."

_We didn't exchange numbers and you don't know my last name, I will probably never see you again as long as I live._

Ralph hopped on the bike his grandma had dragged out of the attic and made the long trek up the hill. He wasn't as winded today. Maybe he was getting to be what they call 'in shape'.

"You're home early," Veronica commented as he entered the kitchen.

"Waaay too much socialization," he said, eliciting a laugh from his grandma. "You know a kid called Will Pauley?"

"Oh yes. His mom works at the bar down the hill. He's a sophomore this year at the high school. Nice kid. Very dirty sense of humor."

"Yeah, I got that."

"You meet him today, then?"

 _No_ , Ralph thought,  _I just pulled the name Will Pauley out of my butt_.

"They've had a rough time of it," Veronica said. "They couldn't afford to move far when he came out as transgender, but he started getting bullied at school, so his mom packed him up and moved him out here a little over a year ago. They're only twenty minutes from their old house, but it's a different school district, and the kids seem to be a bit nicer. His mom is great. She's had a hard time of it, especially being his only parent, but she's super protective of him, doesn't tolerate anyone using his old name, all that stuff. Hard worker, too. I'm glad you and Will have become friends."

"I don't know that I'd say friends. He's very…"

"Energetic?" Veronica said, laughing a bit. "He is. But he's the most enthusiastic kid you'll ever meet. You should hang out with him again. He has this way about him that makes you feel like everything is going to be fine. Great, even. He makes you feel like you worry too much. He even has a tattoo, you know, that saying from Lion King."

The thought of spending a prolonged amount of time with the human version of the Energizer Bunny just made Ralph want to take a nap, but while Ralph had never hung out with someone with so much get – up – and – go before, he wondered if maybe that type of person was exactly what he needed on this vacation. He had come to New Jersey for a change of scenery, after all.

* * *

"Yes, Mr. Duncan," Florence said, tucking the phone between her ear and shoulder so she could pull on the wagon with both hands. "I am outside of the facility. You said to call you for the door code."

"Yes, Ms. Tipton," Duncan replied. "I see you on our cameras. The door code is one zero one two zero. And I do want to say again how thankful Mr. Burgess and I are that you were able to come up with a solution to our problem so quickly."

"Well, it certainly seemed that time was of the essence," Florence said in a tone that she hoped was successfully channeling her inner Paige O'Brien. "And as Team Scorpion, my employer, is extremely invested in helping the environment, we are all on the same page about not wanting your chemicals to leak into the ground."

Duncan had told her in their meeting the previous week that a company specializing in environmental disaster cleanup had been unhelpful in providing preventative measures, likely in the hopes that they could make even more money if the leak actually happened. That absolutely disgusted him and Burgess, Duncan had told Florence, and she shared the sentiment. Common good always outweighed personal greed. It had to. Biologically, it didn't even make sense that humans as a species had survived evolution – they didn't have claws or fangs or spikes or any natural means of defense against predators. Ancient humans persevered because they helped each other and focused on what would benefit everyone, not just the strongest or the most likely to reproduce. Losing sight of why humans were different from most other animals was dangerous, and Florence didn't want anyone with that kind of greed to benefit.

She punched in the door code and the key pad lit up green as she heard the click of the lock deactivating. There were a few maintenance staff at the facility today, but it was most of Duncan & Burgess's day off, so their three dozen scientists weren't present. Neither were Duncan or Burgess themselves; they had to stay away so the rival group wouldn't suspect anything was up. "They play dirty, sometimes," Burgess had told Florence.

She pulled the wagon carrying her solution down the hall, following the map they had given her at the meeting. She didn't have it with her, but while she lacked the eidetic memory of Sylvester and Walter, both of them had given her tips as to how to commit images to memory, and the facility was simple enough.

She reached the door she was supposed to enter in and pushed it open, grunting in surprise at how heavy it was. Entering the room, she noticed the large vents over the underground portion of the building that prevented anyone from accidentally falling into the tanks. She pulled the first bucket off of the wagon and tipped it on its side, the liquid disappearing into the darkness. She moved to the next vent, tipping another bucket on its side, then on to the third and the fourth.  _Done._  Duncan & Burgess' chemicals would not leak into the environment. The rival company had lost. She pressed the buttons to make the horizontal doors close over the vents. Sealed.

She picked her phone up from the wagon. "Duncan. All finished. Payment will be due by – "

" _Ms. Tipton, I swear to God!_ "

"What?"

"I have been yelling at you for the past…seven minutes!"

"I had to put the phone down to work. What's the issue here?"

"Ms. Tipton," he said, sounding slightly stressed out, "we may have a problem."

"A problem?" She asked. "No problem here, sir."

"No, a  _problem_!" His voice was rising in pitch. "There's a bomb in the building!"

"I'm sorry," Florence said, her heart beginning to pound, "what?"

"My colleague here just received word that we have, uh, a Benedict Arnold in our midst." Duncan was talking fast. "One of our maintenance employees registered as clocking out ten minutes ago, and the supervisor got an e-mail, and lordy, I don't know how to say this, but there's a bomb planted over the tanks. Seems he wanted to make sure that the tanks leaked to get a payout from…never mind that, you have to get out of there!"

Florence was staring at a corner of the room, one not visible to her unless she was facing the door she'd come in by. "Yeah, I see it."

The bomb was huge, but the most terrifying part about it was the large blinking digital countdown that switched from 1:00 to :59 the moment she laid eyes on it.

"Ms. Tipton!" Duncan shouted, his voice hoarse.

Florence darted for the door, turning to close it, knowing that wouldn't make much of a difference. A bomb that large was sure to destroy – obliterate – the entire building, to say nothing of the damage that would be caused outside. She doubted she had a snowball's chance in a microwave. But Duncan had her on camera. His company would give a detailed report to Team Scorpion. And Sylvester was  _not_ going to be told that she simply sat down and waited.

Florence ran like a bat out of Hell.


	21. Chapter 21

Walter remembered another time the team had stayed up all night at a hospital, growing sore from the uncomfortable seats, growing tired enough that the uncomfortable seats didn't really matter, but being worried enough that sleep wasn't really anything more than a pipe dream. The morning following, they'd been told that the little girl's body had accepted her new heart. And they'd celebrated.

Walter couldn't remember what time the call had come in, the call that Florence had been involved in an explosion at a job none of them knew she was doing. At first, they believed that she was dead. The man named Burgess who called the garage and spoke to Paige said there were no survivors.

" _How could this happen?" Happy said, angrily, picking up a wrench and whipping it across the room as Paige tearfully repeated the information to the assembled group._

" _How on Earth do we tell Sylvester?" Toby asked. "I'm sure he would rather hear it from us than from a phone call, but…"_

" _You're a doctor," Walter pointed out, "how do you tell someone their loved one is dead?"_

" _I've never had to tell my_ friend _that!"_

Thankfully, Cabe had rushed into the garage only minutes later to relay the news to the team, and when Walter started telling him they already knew and Paige asked if there were any remains to bury – Burgess hadn't known – Cabe had given them a look of surprise.

" _Remains?"_

" _Yeah, old man," Toby snapped. "You know, the body of our friend."_

" _Did Burgess tell you she was dead?"_

_There was a silence in the garage, everyone looking frantically around the group, before Paige asked for the confirmation they were all wanting. "Is she alive?"_

" _I just received a report that she's been airlifted to a trauma center close to the site in critical condition. We have a plane taking off in twenty minutes that will take us there. Where's Sylvester?_

Sylvester had been next door, in Florence's lab. Walter hadn't been there when Paige and Cabe had broken the news and hadn't gotten a look at the younger genius until they were at the airfield. Sylvester's skin now, hours and hours later, didn't look any less pale than it had then.

The last waiting game had been unbearable. But at least they could look back on that one knowing it was a success. At least that night they had had information. They had been aware of the details of Olivia's condition before her surgery, had known what was going to happen and about how long the wait would be. This time, they knew nothing. This time, the team hadn't been involved at all. This time, one hundred percent of what happened would be completely out of Team Scorpion's hands.

That was almost as terrifying to Walter O'Brien as the prospect of losing one of their own. He knew his team, he knew how capable Toby's medical skills were, he had the utmost faith in all of them to pull off whatever they had to. He had faith in Florence, too, but scorpions were stronger together than alone, and right now, the chemist was fighting for her life without any of them.

"What time is it, Walter?" Paige asked, her head on his shoulder.

He looked at his watch. "Three thirty exactly."

"Mmm."

"It's a good sign that we haven't heard anything yet, isn't it, doc?" Cabe asked. "Means she wasn't, uh…means she was with us on arrival."

"It's tricky," Toby said. "We know they at least got her stabilized, because if they couldn't, it's been far too long without us finding out. But the longer this goes on, the more extensive her injuries, because they have to get their treatments started and know the extent of everything  _and_  have a prognosis before they talk to us."

The team fell into silence, so much so that Walter swore he could hear the light  _tick tocking_  of his watch. The minutes passed, no more words passing between the team, and they looked up in unison as Sly returned from the bathroom. "Well," he said slowly, reclaiming his spot between Paige and Cabe, "at least I'm pretty sure by now there's no more food in my stomach to come back up again."

 _Gross,_ Walter thought, but he knew Paige would lift her head and glare at him if he said that out loud.  _Not the time, Walt,_ he heard her say in his head.

"You need some water or anything, kid?" Cabe asked.

Sylvester shook his head. "There's a drinking fountain near the men's room that actually seems impeccably clean." He let out a sigh. "I take it we've heard nothing yet."

"No," Paige told him gently. "But we will soon, I'm sure."

Walter slid his arm farther around her. At least with them sitting side by side, her pregnancy wasn't inhibiting closeness. He looked across at the seats facing them. Happy had arrived at the hospital over an hour after the rest, having to pick up Tad and Ellie from the babysitter and dropping them off at Allie's. She'd been sitting next to Toby for most of the evening before jumping to her feet, startling everyone, to announce in a panic that she'd forgotten to thank Allie for agreeing to keep them overnight. Cabe assured her that she hadn't been rude. Her realization had led  _Paige_  to realize she hadn't called Ralph, but by then it was well after midnight on the east coast. Stress did things to people mentally that Walter felt was unfair. They were all already a mess worrying about Florence without this other stuff popping up in their heads.

Cabe's phone rang, and he stepped away to answer it. When he returned, he looked at them solemly.

"No," Happy said firmly. "No way you found out about her on the phone when we're sitting here in the goddamn waiting room."

"No," Cabe said. "I don't know anything new about Florence's condition. But I do know something new about ours."

"What do you mean?" Sylvester asked.

Cabe paused. "The job Florence was doing. I know we got some details earlier, but none of us knew exactly how, uh, much they wanted her to take on their project."

"Not really giving us any new information with that sentence, Cabe," Happy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure  _how_  to say this," Cabe said. "The blunt version is, the agreement was a very lucrative one for Florence. Her payment for this job was two hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Not finished," he said when a collective gasp shot through the group. "She had it written into the contract that the money go to the company."

"She completely paid off our debts," Walter said, shifting his weight as Paige sat up and leaned the other way, against Sylvester.

"Oh, my God," Happy said, her and Toby's jaws hanging.

"Excuse me," came an unfamiliar voice. The team turned, quickly getting to their feet when they noticed who was standing before them. "Doc," Cabe said, "what's the word?"

"My name is Dr. Farooqi," the man said. "I was the lead trauma surgeon for Ms. Tipton."

"Is she alive?" Walter blurted. Paige stepped closer to him.

"She is." He paused before speaking. "She has survived surgery and is currently in recovery."

"How bad is it?" Sylvester asked, wringing his hands.

"Her injuries are extensive," said Dr. Farooqi. "The most serious is the bleeding in her brain. It has stopped now, and she was fortunate to receive prompt treatment, but it's not unheard of for brain activity to be lost in the days following the trauma. The possibility of a stroke is also present in addition to other complications that can arise from either the trauma itself or the treatment. In addition, she has a ruptured ear drum and ruptured eye, which if she survives could hear completely or could result in her being blind in the eye and deaf in the ear. It's impossible to tell right now."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Happy said to Toby in a low voice. He put his arm around her.

"Ms. Tipton also has about a dozen fractures," Dr. Farooqi continued. "Her collarbone is broken, the radius and ulna in her left arm as well as two bones in her wrist and three of her left ribs. There is a hairline fracture to her skull as well as her pelvis. Then there are the burns from the explosion and she has some – minor, especially compared to everything else – damage to her lungs that may leave her with asthma or COPD. She also suffered dozens of lacerations and contusions."

Walter felt Paige's arms, wrapped around his, tighten as she took a small step closer to him. "What are her chances?" She asked quietly.

Farooqi took a deep breath. "She's in a coma right now, and there's no real way to predict if or when she will come out of it. But she has brain activity, and while we are providing her with supplemental oxygen, she is capable of breathing on her own. She will be kept under constant observation and hopefully given a little time she will regain consciousness. I know you have a doctor in your mix, but I will be happy to answer any specific questions you may have about the information I've given you."

"Can we see her?" Cabe asked.

Farooqi hesitated. "I can have one of the nurses take you back one or two at a time. She's in intensive care and the ability of the staff to be able to do their work is the top priority."

"Of course," Cabe said. He gestured toward Sylvester. "He should go first, alone."

"Let me to get Justin," Farooqi said. "He will get you back there."

"Thank you," Sylvester said. Walter was impressed by the younger man. He was sweating, and he'd run off to throw up twice since they'd gotten the phone call, but overall, he appeared to be holding it together well. Walter knew he would be an incoherent, irrational mess if Paige was in the same situation, and yet he knew Sylvester loved Florence every bit as much. Sometimes Walter wished he could be more like his brother.

"Sly…" Toby looked at him sympathetically. "Sly, we've beaten worse odds."

"I know."

"Walter, what time is it?" Paige asked in a whisper.

He pulled his free hand out of his pocket and checked his watch. "Almost four a.m."

"What time is it  _exactly_?"

"Three forty eight."

"Hi guys," said a young man in scrubs, approaching the group. "I'm here to bring the first group back to Ms. Tipton."

"That's him," Cabe said, putting a hand on Sylvester's shoulder. "He goes first."

"Come with me, sir," the man said. "I'm Justin."

Walter was watching the nurse lead Sylvester away when Paige tugged at his arm. "Walter, come over here."

"Hmm?" He followed her away from the group. "What is it?"

"I need to go downstairs. I believe I've had a couple contractions."

Walter was startled. "You're not due for months!"

"I know. I'm going to let them know and they can probably give me some medication to stop them. They have all sorts of treatment for preterm labor."

He just stared at her. How was she so  _calm_  about this? "I'll come with you. Oh, my God."

"I'd like that if you came with me," she said, reaching out and squeezing his hands. "Don't look so alarmed, I'm sure it will be fine."

"How are you not freaking out?" It was too early. Babies c _ould_  survive at this stage, but…

"Walter, I  _am_  freaking out," she said. "About Florence, which may be why this is happening, and about this, too. But we're literally in a hospital, and I've just had two or three and they're mild and spaced out. Stressing out even more is just going to make this worse." She tugged at his hands. "Let's go downstairs and get it taken care of. Who knows – Florence might even be awake when we get back up here."

* * *

One thing that Sylvester had been grateful for as the end of Megan's life neared was that aside from losing muscle mass and growing slightly pale, changes that people not intimately close to her wouldn't necessarily even notice, she had remained visually the same. He was glad for her sake as well as for his, because he knew watching her waste away would have been absolutely agonizing. At least when he remembered her, he always could remember her the same way.

Florence had bandages all over, wrapped around her skull. Bandages covered her body in patches – probably even more were hidden under the blanket that was neatly tucked around her – covering lacerations and keeping the burn dressings in place. Her left arm was in a cast from shoulder to wrist, and the skin that was visible was covered with bruising. In a sharp, painful contrast to Megan's subtle changes, the woman in this bed probably wouldn't even be recognizable to people who didn't know her well. If not for her small size and the tufts of blonde hair that were still visible, Sylvester wasn't sure he would even believe that this woman was her. And he knew her better than anyone.

Justin left him alone – as alone as he could be in intensive care – and Sylvester stood over the bed, looking down at her, thinking that he'd never quite realized how small she was before. "Can she hear me?" He asked a nurse that was passing by.

"Maybe," the nurse replied, giving him a nod. "It never hurts to talk."

He was scared to touch her, but he extended his hand, brushing the back of it lightly over her visible fingers, poking out of the cast. "Hey, Lori," he said, using the only shortened version of her name she didn't mind, and one he used only rarely, always when they were alone. "It's Sylvester. All of us are here, Paige, Walter, Toby, Happy, Cabe. Allie has the babies, she sends her thoughts. So does Ralph." He wasn't sure if Paige had called New Jersey yet, but it's not like Florence could know the difference. "They let me come back to see you first, but the others will later." He noticed her right hand seemed almost okay, with no cast and no burn dressings past the wrist. He circled around the bed and took the hand in his own. "We're all going to be here as much as we can. I'm sorry you had to be away from us for a while, while they fixed you up. But we're going to be around you so much while you're here and when they let you come back home that you'll probably end up coming up with another smelly chemical to keep us away." He chuckled in spite of himself. "I'm really proud of you, you know. You're such a fighter." He leaned down, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. "I love you so much, Florence. You're gonna get through this, okay? And I'm going to be right here with you while you do."

She was in a coma, so he hadn't been expecting a response, but the silence that followed was still excruciating. Sylvester let out a long, shaky breath. He didn't want her to hear him cry.

But it was so damn hard.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter picks up within a few hours of the last one. After this we will get to time passing a little more quickly. 
> 
> This fic, for what this reminder is worth - does take place in a world where all of season four happened, if that makes anyone feel better about how much can change with these characters in a few years.

* * *

 

As they probably would have expected if any of them stopped to think about it, within the span of the morning, Florence had four visitors at one time. "Talk to her," Sylvester said. "The nurse said she might be able to hear us."

"It's very possible," Toby said. "Usually hearing is the last sensory faculty to worsen when a person nears death, so while people in comas can't respond to any stimuli, they can still have that ability."

Sylvester was glad he already knew that people who had issues hearing sometimes heard better while unconscious, because who knew if – if Florence woke up – she would be able to recover her hearing. The ear that was most likely to still be functional dictated what side of the bed he waited on.

It occurred to him that there was usually more people crowded around in a situation like this, and he frowned, realizing he hadn't seen some of his friends for most of the morning.

The door opened and Walter and Paige appeared, almost as if they knew Sylvester was wondering about them. "Hey guys," Paige said with a smile, coming to a stop next to Cabe. Walter stopped just behind her, her left shoulder against the middle of his chest. His right hand rested on her right hip, the left coming up to her stomach. She put one of her hands over his. Walter's stance was both affectionate and protective, and Sylvester felt a pang in his heart. He didn't know what Walter felt the need to protect Paige from, but Florence was in no condition to be held. Sylvester hated that just the previous morning they were laying much in the way Walter and Paige were standing now, spooning with her back against his chest, and now…

"Where have you two been?" Happy asked curiously.

"Downstairs," Paige replied.

Toby gave a little chuckle. " _Nice_."

Walter narrowed his eyes.

"Is…everything okay?" Cabe asked, looking curiously between the group.

"I had a couple contractions," Paige said. "We had to go down to get me a shot, and now I'm restricted to 'limited activity' until we're nearer to my due date. Which means in general," she added, looking at Toby, "but part of that is no more  _nice_  until the baby is here."

"Oh my gosh," Sylvester said. "But you're okay now?"

"Oh yes," Paige said with a nod. She ran a hand over her stomach. "We are both a – okay."

"That's a relief," Toby said. "We've had enough of the bad excitement for today."

"You can say that again," Paige agreed.

"That's a relief," Toby repeated. "We've had enough of the…ow!"

Happy rolled her eyes as he gently rubbed the spot that her elbow had come into contact with. "The kids aren't here, no need for dad humor," Happy said.

"You tired of it?"

"Yeah, I'm a little tired of it."

Toby grinned. "Hi, A Little Tired Of It, I'm Dad!"

Happy groaned.

Paige glanced away from the Quinn – Curtis'. "How are you holding up, Sly?" Stepping away from Walter, she placed a hand on Sylvester's shoulder.

He shrugged. "She still has brain activity. They just came in and changed her bandages about a half an hour ago." He looked back at Florence. "I don't…I know you can be unconscious and still feel pain, but coma patients can't react to pain despite recent studies suggesting they feel it the same way we do. So I have no idea if she's hurting right now and just can't say anything."

"I'm sorry, Sly," Cabe said.

"Yeah," Paige said softly. "We all love Florence, but I can't imagine what you in particular are going through right now." She looked over her shoulder, as if to assure herself that Walter was okay.

Sylvester was suddenly hit with a flash of anger. "Wait, you can't imagine what  _I'm_ going through?" He asked incredulously.

Paige blinked. "What did I say?"

"This isn't about  _me_ ," he said. "She's the one going through this. How I feel doesn't compare to what she's got to be feeling."

"Oh, for sure, absolutely," Paige said. "But…"

"Paige," he said firmly. "This isn't about me. Just remember that, okay? Please."

Paige nodded, sliding her hand over to the middle of his back and resting her cheek on his shoulder. "You're right. You're absolutely right."

"See, Flo?" Cabe said, "some light bickering, as per usual."

"Did anyone tell her?" Happy blurted.

Everyone slowly turned to look at Sylvester. For a moment, he had no clue what they were referring to, then he blinked in realization. "Oh. No. I didn't say anything. I was…"

"Okay, Tipton, listen up," Happy said, walking up next to Sylvester and leaning over the bed. "You're a goddamn hero, okay? The payment went through on that Burgess job. We're clear out of debt." She paused. Sylvester was startled when he detected a crack in her voice. "I know years ago I was accusing you of trying to ruin us. You saved us today. You saved us for the long haul." Happy paused, drawing in a deep breath, and when she spoke again her voice was quiet. "And I appreciate you being like this so I can say that, but now that I have, you can wake up any time now." Everyone waited, staring at the figure in the bed. Nothing happened.

"Damn," Cabe said quietly. "Part of me was thinking that would work."

Happy stepped back. Toby put his arms around her and she buried her head in his chest.

"Did you get a chance to call Ralph?" Sylvester asked, looking at Paige.

She nodded. "When they were monitoring me downstairs. He said he would come home on the next flight if I needed him."

"He's on his way, then?"

"No." Paige shook her head. "Being away from here is good for him right now. Asking him to come back because I just want my baby close wouldn't be right. He's an adult, he needs to be allowed to take care of himself. But he will come back immediately if…" she trailed off, glancing at Walter, who seemed surprised that s _he_  was looking to  _him_ for how to appropriately finish that sentence.

"I'm glad," Sylvester said softly. "But he won't need to, because she's going to be fine, aren't you, sweetheart?" He lifted her good – well, better – hand and kissed her knuckles gently.

A silence hung over the room, everyone's expressions somber. Walter kept his arms protectively around Paige; Toby tipped his head to kiss Happy's cheek. Cabe watched the monitors, his jaw set, looking as if he believed shifting his eyes anywhere else would bring about a change they didn't want. Sylvester wasn't sure how long they stayed in that holding pattern before Walter quietly cleared his throat and said Paige probably should go home and lay down.

"Yes," Toby said, "I know you aren't officially on bed rest, but resting in your bed will certainly help you keep the little one in there longer."

"Both of those things are certainly the plan," Paige said. She turned to Walter, dropping her voice so none of the others could hear what she said. He gave a quiet chuckle in response and she smiled, leaning in to kiss him. Sylvester felt the painful squeezing around his heart again.

"We should head out, too," Happy said. "Sly, I don't want to leave you guys alone…"

"You gotta get back to the kids," Sylvester said, nodding. He completely understood. He knew all of them would camp out with him, stay as long as it took, if this was a few years ago, but their family was expanding, and the others had extra obligations now. Happy and Toby would do more good being with their children than sitting in intensive care.

"We will be back," Toby promised.

Sylvester nodded again. "I know."

"I'm actually just going to head back out to the waiting room," Cabe said. "Just to give you guys some time alone together. If you need me, holler. I don't need to go anyplace so I don't see why I would."

"Allie…"

"Allie isn't on limited activity status and Allie isn't a toddler. Allie can wait, and she understands."

"I appreciate it.  _We_  appreciate it."

When Cabe was gone, Sylvester turned back to Florence. "You and Paige both taking it easy right now, huh?" He reached over and tucked a corner of a bandage – the one wrapped around her skull – back into place. "That's the best way to heal. Just sleep, and let your body take care of itself. The human body is an incredible thing, you know." He bit his lip. He wasn't used to her not answering him, and his thoughts wandered to Megan again. At least she'd been responsive right down until the end. She had died talking to her brother. She had filmed a message for him. And before that, she and Sylvester had cuddled one last time, both of them knowing it was goodbye but not saying those words because they knew they'd be together forever in the surviving heart and mind.

But Megan had known she was dying. She'd known for years. Florence had had no time to prepare, no time to say what she wanted to say or to do all the things she wanted to do. She couldn't even speak, to ask Sylvester to have experiences on her behalf. Sylvester had risked his friendship with Walter to give Megan agency in her final days. He couldn't think of a single way to do the same for Florence.

Except…

_This isn't about you. Tell her, no matter how much it might hurt._

"Lori," he said quietly. "I need you to know something. I want you to wake up. Of course I do. I already lost Megan, and I never thought I would ever love anyone again, much less as much as I love you. But you know what?" He paused, looking away and blinking back tears. "I already lost Megan. And I thought I would never love anyone else again. And I did. I do." He took another breath. "I will be here every second you are. If you wake up, no matter how hard things might be, therapy, adjustments, whatever, I'll be at your side for all of it. But if…if this is too hard, if you're only fighting for me…" he trailed off, putting a hand briefly to his face to compose himself, "I want you to know that I'll be okay. I don't know if I believe in fate or destiny or anything like that, but if I'm meant to just be someone who just keeps on loving special people while they're here…I'll take that. I haven't regretted loving Megan for a nanosecond and I will never regret loving you, either." He didn't know if the  _If I Stay_  narrative was accurate; he didn't know if people in these states actually had any say as to if they let go or not. But if they did… "Please don't stay just for me if fighting is too hard. This isn't about me, Lori. I would never ask you to suffer for me."

His heart quickened as he glanced up at the monitors. A full minute passed, then another, with no change in her vitals. Either she had no control, or she was choosing to keep fighting. He closed his hand over hers. "I'm here, sweetheart," he whispered. "I'm staying right here. As long as you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a way, it's fitting that this chapter was the next one to go up after the bad news. I went through a period earlier today of not even feeling like watching and loving this show as worth it, to have an ending like that that's so different from what the essence of the show is. But then I did a read through of this chapter, and I saw myself in what I wrote, weeks ago, for Sylvester. Scorpion was a rebound show for me, filling the gaping hole in my heart left by The Mentalist. The Mentalist broke me, getting to wrap up their show the way they wanted to and still hurting my heart. Scorpion didn't want to hurt us, but did just the same. Maybe it had to, so the next show I fall for has a place in my heart to go. Maybe, like Sly is wondering if his purpose in life is to be the best partner he can be for people whose time on Earth is too short, that spot in my heart is just waiting for the next show to fill it up. I'm not sure I believe that, but I couldn't have planned better timing for re – reading what I wrote here if I'd tried.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been alternating with this one and The Cylcone Trap, and I need to keep writing Season Five, but I really wanted to give y'all some cute Waige today, on the first Monday after we found out. So here's an extra update to this one! (Also, to those of you saying you want me to make Florence a bad guy/kill her off because you're mad about the finale, not only are you probably gonna want another fic, you're also gonna want another author. I love Florence. My plans for her in my fics did not changed after the finale and will not change now that we're cancelled.)

"Walter?"

He heard her questioning tone from down the hall, which pleased him. It wasn't as if she never woke up without him beside her, but they'd gotten home from the hospital late the previous night – Florence was being treated for an infection on one of her legs and they didn't want to leave until she was fully stabilized again – and Paige had started crying while they were getting ready for bed. He'd wrapped her up in his arms as best he could with her growing belly and he was sure she expected to wake up the same way. That would just add a little more to the surprise.

However, when she came out into the living room, there was something in her eyes that told him she'd figured it out.  _Dammit, Ralph texted her too. Of course. Duh._  Thankfully, the element of surprise wasn't actually necessary. Her eyes still lit right up when she saw the giant floral arrangement on the table. "Oh my gosh," she said, blushing, putting her hands up to her face but not so quickly Walter couldn't see the grin. He closed the distance between them, taking from behind his back another flower, one that was attached to a clip. He slid it into her hair, fastening the clip so the flower appeared tucked behind her ear, secured so it wouldn't fall out. "Happy anniversary," he said softly.

" _Wow_." She was still grinning as she reached out with one hand to tug the flowers closer to her. She leaned down and closed her eyes as she inhaled. "I hope this scent fills up the whole room," she said. She turned back to him. "They're so beautiful. Thank you. And oh, yeah, happy anniversary too!" She stepped into his arms, turning her body to the side so they could get closer to one another. "The initial plan was I was going to give you your present, uh, in there," she said, gesturing with her head toward their room. "But this whole taking it easy thing complicates that."

Walter raised his eyebrows curiously. "Were you gonna let me – "

"No, that that." She bit her lower lip, a smirk coming over her face. "The other thing."

"Ah." He tipped his head to the side. "So like, do I get a rain check, or…"

She rolled her eyes, playfully swatting him, and he chuckled, sliding his arms around her waist – usually linking his fingers behind her back but no longer able to – and leaning forward and stretching his neck to kiss her on the cheek. She was smiling, and she put a hand up to the side of his face. "I really frickin' love you."

"I love you too," he said, lifting a hand to touch the tip of his finger to her nose. "More than yesterday, and not as much as tomorrow."

He closed his eyes when he leaned in to kiss her, but not quite before he saw her blush again. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Well," Paige said, "if we shower together we can get to the hospital by ten…"

He sighed. "Paige, I don't want to go to the hospital."

She blinked in surprise. "But Florence…"

"Sly is with her. It's our anniversary. We've spent the last four days at the hospital, Paige. Call me selfish or insensitive, but I want to spend today with you. Somewhere that isn't Whitehull. Somewhere we can just be two people in love, celebrating our wedding anniversary and the fact that we're having a baby in just a few months."

She hesitated, then gave a small smile and nodded. "That sounds good to me," she said softly. "Did you have anywhere in mind?"

Walter shook his head. "No. That's why I asked you to pick."

"Hmm." She traced the pocket on his shirt. "Why don't we do brunch at that place at the beach where you can sit out over the water?"

He nodded. "Let's do that."

"Then what about afterward? We should do something you want, too."

One of the things they actively focused on since resuming their relationship years before was accepting that they didn't have much in common when it came to hobbies and making an effort to incorporate things they both enjoyed into outings as much as possible. But one thing Paige still didn't seem to understand was as long as they were somewhere where they weren't in a group and they were able to talk to each other – as opposed to something like a concert where they would have to yell to communicate – he didn't mind if there wasn't one bit of science involved. "Brunch sounds lovely," he said. "If you still don't think that sharing a meal across from you is something I want, we probably should have rethought the whole marriage bit."

She gave a little laugh. "I see your point."

"I'll take you up on that shared shower though," he said.

"Is this for efficiency or because my boobs are bigger now that I'm pregnant?"

"Yes."

She laughed again. "Okay. I mean, I did suggest it, but remember, you can't go getting me all worked up; I need to keep this baby right where they are for a little while yet."

Walter shrugged. "The sheet the doctor gave us did not say I couldn't look at them."

"And what do  _I_  get out of that, exactly?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Ah...appreciation?" He suggested. "And a rain check of your own, of course."

"This condo is gonna be rocking and rolling after this baby comes," she said.

"Yep, after. Because we don't want you to pop too soon."

She had been starting to turn toward the hallway, but she stopped and looked back at him. "Walter O'Brien, did you just make a music genre reference?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"Dammit, Baby," she said, looking down at her stomach and running her hands lightly over it. "You're really lucky I love you."


	24. Chapter 24

Veronica's kitchen and dining room were all one space, without too much of a distinction between them. It was more like half of the tiny room had the kitchen and stove and the other half had a table, a few chairs, and a stand by the door with a basket of fruit that looked like it belonged on some dancer's head in a Vegas casino. It was homey, and yet it wasn't home. It belonged to his grandmother and she made him feel welcome, and yet it felt like the house hadn't shared the same sentiments. He felt weird in this house.

He hadn't at first. Maybe he was just too preoccupied, too fixated on the events of the past eleven days to feel comfortable here. He should be at home. But if he came home now, they would all just feel bad. This was supposed to be his escape, a place to clear his head, and returning to a bigger mess than he'd left wasn't the smart move here. It wasn't like there was anything he could do, anyway. His mom would try to distract him, to be everything this trip was supposed to be, and then she might go into labor again and it would be all his fault. And on the baby front, Bri had  _almost_  completely stopped texting him, but he suspected that was partly because of the three – hour time difference. As soon as he was back on the west coast, he was sure she would pick right back up with it.

And Florence. He didn't want to think about Florence. He didn't want to think about how the person who had single – handedly saved them from crippling debt could die without even knowing how grateful they all were. Especially Ralph himself – after all, it was his poor judgement that got them into the situation in the first place.

God, he remembered how much he'd hated her, once upon a time.  _You ruined everything. How do you even stand to live in this city anymore?_  He'd apologized, of course – that conversation was years ago at this point – but still…what if the boy who had taken two buses and then waited outside her lab for an hour and a half just to accuse her of destroying his family never got the chance to thank her for saving it?

At least he had some understanding of what was going on there, despite comas being something no one knew absolutely everything about. When he'd Face Timed with the Quinn – Curtis family before coming down for lunch, it was clear that Tad and Ellie knew something had happened with Paige and with Florence but couldn't quite comprehend what. It was simple enough with Paige – "the baby thought it wanted to come out but we told it it needed to get bigger first" – but neither of the kids seemed satisfied with the explanation that Florence had some boo boos and it was better that she slept while they healed so she could get better faster. They knew it was more serious than that. Ralph could tell, both by the way they were acting and by the way Happy worriedly glanced off screen – presumably at Toby – whenever one of them made a comment.

"You talked to someone from home earlier?"

Ralph glanced up at Veronica, who was passing him some buttered bread and taking his glass to refill from the pitcher in the fridge. "Oh. Yeah. Happy and Toby and the babies."

"Any news from them?" she asked gently.

Ralph ran his finger around the circle of water that was left by his water glass. "My mom's okay. They're confident she'll be able to carry the pregnancy all the way to term as long as she takes it easy. That's a pretty big relief."

"It is," Veronica said. "Did you tell her I send my best wishes? And happy anniversary late?"

"Yeah, when I talked to her last night. She says thank you, from both her and Walter."

"Walter wasn't on the call?"

"I texted him before and after. He was with Sylvester. Took him to Kovelsky's just for a brief change of scenery."

Veronica nodded, a small, pleased smile on her face. She cocked her head to the side. "Nothing else from Whitehull?"

Ralph bit his lip. "She's still in a coma. It's been over a week."

"She's healing."

His grandma's voice was soothing, but she wasn't succeeding in providing comfort this time. "I suppose. Comas don't normally last more than two weeks. Then she's considered in a persistent vegetative state, or whatever."

"She's not past two weeks yet, Ralph. And people come out of them after longer than that. Her body has a lot to do. If she's not awake, more of her energy can focus on getting better."

Ralph bit his lip.

"Ralph, honey?" Veronica asked.

"I know it's always best to think positive, but…" When he spoke, his voice was cracking like he'd entered puberty all over again. "I really don't think she's going to wake up."

"Oh, sweetie."

Ralph stood up, heading for the roll of paper towel and tearing a piece off, dabbing his eyes, stubbornly keeping his back to his grandmother because although he knew it was perfectly okay for boys to cry he still felt embarrassed whenever it happened. His eyes got blotchy. He hated his blotchy eyes.

"Good afternoon, Dineens! Door was unlocked, so I…"

Veronica and Ralph turned in unison to the threshold separating the kitchen and dining space from the foyer. Will scanned the room, seeming to realize he was bringing his chipper into a room that was decidedly  _not_  so. He adjusted his ball cap. It said  _World Misspellers Untie!_ Usually, that was exactly the kind of humor Ralph could appreciate.

"Hi," Ralph said, wanting to break the silence. Will's eyes fell on him, the younger boy's expression softening when he saw the look on Ralph's face. When he saw the god damned blotchy eyes.

Will crossed the room, not breaking his stride, and when he reached Ralph he threw his arms around him and held on tight.

* * *

"She finally asleep?" Toby asked when Happy came out of the bedroom.

"I think so."

"Did she want Barney or Hamilton tonight?"

"Hamilton." Happy sighed. "I swear I sang  _Dear Theodosia_  ten times if I sang it once."

"Solid choice, Ellie."

"Oh, no. She wanted  _It's Quiet Uptown_. But like Hell I would be able to get through that one right now. I barely made it through as is."

He stood, crossing the room until he was right in front of her. He put a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're definitely right. They know it's worse than we're telling them."

"I don't know what else  _to_  tell them," Happy said. "Paige suggested we introduce them to the concept of Heaven. But I don't know how to talk about that. I never got that talk. I don't even believe in it. I grew up knowing very bluntly what happened to my mother. I know Tad and El know animals die, but they also knew Ferret Bueller was old. And…and they joke, they ask us  _did you almost die_  and stuff like that after cases but they think that's cool and fun and badass. And I guess almost making it is all those things. But what happens when you don't? How do we talk to them about it in case she…" Happy trailed off.

"I wish I had a solution," Toby said, kissing her on the forehead. "Especially in a situation like this because I feel like I should. But…it's different when it's our children. It's different when it's our friend. I'm too close to the puzzle to know what piece is supposed to go next."

Happy gave a small little laugh. He cocked his head. "What?"

"I was just thinking about how if you told me four years ago that one day Florence Tipton would be on my mind most waking moments and I would actually feel guilty whenever I thought about something else, I would have implied that your I.Q. test must have come back negative." She sighed. "And now…" She shook her head slowly.

"I know. Me too. And for the babies, it's not complicated at all. They never knew her until she was completely a part of us."

"She's their Aunt Flo, doc," Happy said, pain in her voice. "As much as she hates that name."

"It is unfortunate," he said, and they chuckled together before growing solemn again. Happy moved against him, resting her head on his chest. "We just have to keep reminding ourselves that we've all gotten through worse odds before, Hap."

"Yeah.  _We_." She sighed. "That's what worries me. We don't get to be a group of scorpions jumping in to save our kin this time. We can't do anything. She's dealing with this herself. And I know most scorpion species are solitary, but none of us have ever been much good alone."

"Maybe she has to heal herself," Toby said, "but she's not alone. She knows she has her family pulling for her. Love is a powerful thing, and if it's true the person has some sort of agency over their recovery, no matter what might be enticing her towards the light, I can't imagine it seems more appealing to her than what she has here. She's loved, Happy." He placed a hand in her hair. "She's so loved. And she knows that."

"I hope so."

"She does. She knows it about all of us, of course, but..." Toby hesitated. "She was going to propose to Sylvester."

Happy pulled back just enough to look at him. "She was? When?"

"I don't know. I overheard her asking Walter for advice on it a few months ago. I don't think she had a set plan. She was just floating the idea."

"Oh God." Happy shook her head slowly. "And he has no idea."

"Nope. And," Toby added with a sigh, "if she doesn't come out of this, I don't know if telling him would make things better or worse."


	25. Chapter 25

Paige's pregnancy would, occasionally, get her extremely emotional over little things. The other day, she saw a GIF of a Koala eating a leaf and wouldn't stop talking about it all the way through dinner. Walter agreed that the animal had the type of aesthetic value that could be categorized as  _cute_ , but not that incredibly so.

That also meant she cried more often, but even when it wasn't anything major, he still hated to see it. So when he got home from the garage to see her sitting on the couch with her phone in her hand and tears in her eyes, his immediate concern was for her, since he would have been notified as well if something was wrong with Ralph or Florence.

"Love," he said, sitting on the coffee table so he could face her. "What's the matter? Who was on the phone?"

"Nobody." She sniffed. "I keep stopping myself from calling Ralph."

Walter was confused. "I don't understand. Is he busy?"

"No. I don't know. I just…" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I know I'm being selfish. I just want him home. I need all of us together."

Walter bit his lip.

"Dammit, Walter, say something to make me feel better."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what to say."

She sighed. "I know. I just wish you did."

He knew she knew he wasn't a mind reader, but he still felt a jolt of annoyance. "Sorry I'm not perfect."

She looked up, seeming alarmed, then she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be like that."

"It's okay." Walter reached over and took one of her hands. "We're all under a lot of stress."

"Including him. I want him to stay away as long as he wants. But…"

"I miss him, too," Walter said gently. "I want all of us here, too."

"Remember the night we got back together?" Paige asked. "We were in Europe and it was a long flight home."

He remembered. The corporation had insisted they fly first class. The cabin had cozy little mini bedrooms, too open and in too close of quarters for true privacy but with definite separations between each little section. "We all piled into one," he said.

"We squeezed into that bed with Ralph between us and we held hands." She smiled, looking down at where their fingers were linked. "Almost just like this. He slept, but we didn't. We just locked eyes and smiled at each other in the dark." Wiping her eyes again, Paige continued. "He's too old for that now, I know. But with everything going on…I just really wish I could hold him right now. If only for a second."

"I know." Walter put his other hand on top of theirs. "I understand."

"I remember that night, even though it  _was_  night and almost all the lights were off, it didn't seem so black," she said. "And now, it's daytime. The sun is out. And yet I feel it's almost darker than it was on that flight."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I know it's hard to smile right now," he said. "But for what it's worth, you'll always have my eyes."

"That's the weirdest sentence," she said, looking at him affectionately. "But I think that was pretty close to exactly what I needed you to say."

"Happy to be of service."

She gave a little laugh in spite of herself. "I love you."

He reached out and tapped a finger against her nose. "I love you, too."

She leaned over, they kissed, and Walter squeezed her hand, excusing himself briefly. He went to their room, pulling out his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ralph."

There was a brief silence. "I'm coming home."

Walter paused. "What?"

"I can tell by your voice."

"Ralph…"

"No. It's okay. This was a good idea, but…" Walter couldn't see him, but he knew Ralph was nodding. "But I think I'm ready to see you all again." __

* * *

"It occurred to me the other day that I shouldn't have told you that Will is transgender," Veronica said, wringing her hands. "That was his thing to tell you if he wanted. So…don't call him on it, or anything like that."

"Grandma," Ralph said, reaching for his jacket, "you call someone on something they're being deceptive about. He's not being deceiving."

"Right, no, I – I know that. Phrased badly. But you know what I mean."

"I'm not going to say anything to him," Ralph said. "Like you said, it's up to him if and when he wants to tell me. And I wouldn't blame him if he never says anything. There's this girl Elena at my school who once she came out, she was everyone's Transgender Friend. It was all anyone focused on. I would imagine people would hate being nothing to others but one part of their identity."

Veronica shook her head. "You're much more awake than I am."

"You mean woke?"

"Is that what it is?"

"Yes."

"Ah." Veronica nodded. "Don't stay out too late, okay? I'm making dinner for us tonight, and we want to get up early to drive to the airport."

"We're just getting lunch at the Wild Whale and then going for a walk. I'll be home hours before dinner."

"Okay. I love you, Ralph."

Ralph was already halfway to the door, but he turned and crossed the kitchen to give Veronica a hug. "You too, Grandma. And, uh…" he smiled. "Thanks for letting me come here."

"You're my only grandchild," Veronica said. "And it's only a few more months I can say that. But it's always a joy to have you. I hope you'll come back, sometimes."

"Of course." The family he wanted, he would always make an effort to keep. "I'll see you later, okay?"

* * *

 

Ralph was certainly going to miss East Coast fish and chips. In the three days since he talked to Walter – the waiting period for a day of the week where there was a decently priced flight – he had eaten them every day. Twice with his grandma, and once with Will. All at different restaurants. He never thought of himself as a foodie. But  _this town_ …

He and Will walked over the bridge to the better beaches, and the younger boy seemed to eat up Ralph's lessons about algae and tide pools. Sometimes he wondered if he talked about science too much. Will, thankfully, always seemed interested.

It was nearly three when they crossed back over the bridge and headed back toward the fork in the road where Ralph would go right and Will left, back to his mother's tiny lifted house by the shore. "See this, here?" Will asked, pointing to a bench. "That is where she sells seashells by the sea shore."

"I hate tongue twisters," Ralph said. "There's only one I can do."

"Which one? Do it!"

Ralph rolled his eyes. "No."

"Oh, come on. Is it Peter Piper?"

He took in a deep breath. "Betty Botter bought some butter, but the butter, it was bitter. If she put it in her batter, it would make her batter bitter. But – a bit of better butter, that would make her batter better. So Betty Botter bought some butter better than the bitter butter, and she put it in her batter and her batter was not bitter! So, t'was better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter."

Will's eyes widened. "Holy damn."

"Ha, thank you."

They reached the fork, and Will picked up a stone, throwing it at a wooden target nailed to a tree. Bullseye. "It's been a lot of fun these past weeks, Ralph."

"Agreed." Ralph nodded. "I didn't think I would find a friend here, and it's been…it's been great."

"Can I kiss you?"

Ralph was surprised. "Wait, what?"

"Sorry," Will looked away. "Sorry, that was impulsive."

"No, it's okay." Ralph reached out, putting his hand on Will's arm. "It's just, you know…"

"You're straight. I get it. I got ahead of myself."

"No, I mean…I mean I've only dated girls,  _yeah_ , but mainly, like…I'm leaving tomorrow."

Will shrugged. "No day but today, right?" He held up his arm. "From  _Rent_."

Right. Ralph had spent the past week trying to remember when they said that in  _The Lion King_. He'd assumed it was somewhere in the  _remember who you are_  scene, but turned out his grandma had her musicals mixed up. "I want to stay in touch," Ralph said. "Kissing wouldn't make it weird?"

"I don't think so. But again, it's fine, really." Will shrugged. "I swear. I didn't catch feelings, I promise. I just thought…I haven't kissed anyone in a long time, so…"

"No…" Ralph shrugged. "Like a kiss for luck, right? Only this time for goodbye?"

A corner of Will's mouth turned up. "Something like that."

Ralph leaned in and put his lips on the younger boy's. When their lips separated, their eyes opened and they smiled at each other.

"Cool," Will said.

Ralph's smile turned into a grin. "Cool."


	26. Chapter 26

" _There's holmium and helium and hafnium and erbium and phosphorus and francium and fluorine and terbium_ …"

Sylvester had made himself learn the song to impress Florence's friends the first time they had gone to a chemistry event together, one that they had almost missed due to a delayed case in Florida, but the stars had aligned and they'd arrived home with just enough time to drive over. With his memory, tackling the song had been fairly easy. Perhaps fitting when thinking of proportions, effort versus reward, they hadn't been overly impressed.  _She_  had been, though, and that was really all that mattered.

 _That was hot,_  she'd explained when, after her friends headed off for food, she'd pulled him around the line of vending machines and kissed him hard on the mouth.

He remembered being cocky, almost to the point where he didn't sound like himself.  _Oh, you like that, huh?_

They'd still been in the fairly early stages of their relationship then, a couple months in, her still learning to be vulnerable and him still learning that she wasn't with him as some sort of consolation prize. It was in that moment, with impulsive kissing and smug grins and the giggling that followed that he realized they were going to be okay. He'd never discussed that revelation with her – not specifically – but she had told him the first time they slept together, just days later, that  _something changed at that convention. It was like walking from a muggy Orlando afternoon into air conditioning._

 _Our relationship is a muggy Orlando afternoon to you?_ Even then, he knew his ability to joke meant he was confident in her answer.

_You know what I mean. Clarity. Like this is one hundred percent where we're supposed to be. Now should I take my bra off or do you do it? I'm not clear on protocol when it comes to foreplay._

Sylvester chuckled at the memory.

 _If she can hear you, she will be glad to hear your voice_. That's what the doctors said. It was day fourteen, and he had run out of things to say to her other than updates on things that were going on. And while he knew you could never tell someone you loved them too much, he could only repeat it so many times before breaking down. But this silly song? He could run through it, taking some time away from the long silences that hung in the room when he couldn't come up with anything else.

" _And manganese and mercury, molybdenum, magnesium, dysprosium and scandium and cerium and cesium. And lead, praseodymium and platinum, plutonium, palladium, promethium, potassium, polonium_ …"

And okay, maybe the song wasn't so silly. It helped a lot of people learn. He kept singing, squeezing her hand, hoping she felt it but also hoping he wouldn't feel anything back. She'd opened her eyes before – coma patients sometimes did. Their muscles would move, too, giving the impression they were squeezing a hand or tapping a foot. Knowing that anything he saw or felt was nothing, just reflexes, not any sort of sign that she was going to be okay, made him hate those moments.

" _There's sulfur, californium and fermium, berkelium, and also mendelevium, einsteinium, nobelium…"_

Her most recent EEG had shown that she still had brain activity. He was clinging to that. She was being given plenty of nutrition through tubes – victims of burns needed extra to help recover – and part of him was glad she hadn't been awake for the worst of it, through the skin grafting and the oozing bandages. Her burns and lacerations, while still serious, were under some level of control now, and her fractures were healing normally. If he knew that she would wake up, he would almost wish she could stay like this until she was healed, despite the inevitable deterioration of her muscles. That would be a struggle for her. She wasn't one of those workout gurus with an Instagram page and a ton of preprogrammed hashtags, but she prided herself on staying relatively in shape. Muscular atrophy was probably one of her worst fears, right after dealing with a brain that wasn't working quite like it had before.

Florence's eyes opened halfway, remained that way for a couple of seconds, and then closed again. Sylvester bit his lip, then sighed. Patty had been here with him a couple of days ago when she'd done that, and her entire face had lit up until he told her it meant nothing. At least the others didn't require any explanation. They struck up conversations, including Florence in them, or sat with the couple in silence when that was all anyone could manage. Sylvester loved Patty, but as smart as she was, she knew next to nothing about this type of condition, and it was emotionally taxing for him to explain things to her when he was barely able to process a thought himself.

He finished the song and reached for his water bottle, taking a swig. It was nearly gone, his fourth one today. He didn't think he talked this much when the person he was speaking to was actually speaking back. His phone buzzed while he was leaning over to set it down, vibrating its way out of his pocket and clattering to the floor. "Dammit," he muttered. Reaching down, he picked up the phone and swiped to open the message – it had landed face up and he could already see it was a media message from Paige. The image loaded, a selfie of her with her arm around Ralph, Walter standing behind them. Paige was the only one who knew where to look so it appeared she was staring right at them. All three were smiling. The text that accompanied the message said  _home safe, will come by tomorrow?_

 _Sounds good,_  Sylvester texted back.  _Good to see you smiling._  He knew Paige well enough to know that she would know he wasn't being snippy, that he was genuinely happy that she was hugging her son again.

"Ralph is home," he said to Florence, reading the text message aloud. "I hope the break from life here did him good." He tucked the phone back into his pocket, lifting her hand up so he could kiss it. "We're gonna have to throw Paige a baby shower soon. Well, not  _have_  to, that implies we're doing it out of some sort of obligation, and I think it will be fun. It's just a matter of picking a date, picking games…I don't even know if she's made a registry. It's tricky. She loves the gift giving at Christmas but part of it is she gets to give gifts, too. I honestly don't know how she feels about showers, now that I think about it, especially considering how much we've all been pinching pennies. She may at least accept diapers from us." He bit his lip, tapping his foot against the chair. Her eyes opened again, halfway just like the last time. Sylvester supposed he had better make sure Paige and Walter prepare Ralph for things like this. The kid was very nearly a legal adult, and had been operating as one for years, but…you never knew how someone was going to react. And seeing her like this…

Actually…Sylvester's heart picked up the pace. This was different. She was looking  _at_  him, and when he stood up, her pupils shifted. She was tracking him. She was  _conscious_.

"Florence?"

"Ssss…"

"Oh my God," he said, his heart pounding so hard he could feel it in at least eight places. His mind was racing almost as fast – she was awake, but what if she had horrible brain damage? What if she didn't know him? What if the sound she was making was just her breathing?

It didn't matter. She was awake. Nothing else mattered. Nothing. Not the work that would have to be put in, not the unknowns, not anything but the fact that  _she was conscious for the first time since the explosion._  "Florence," he said, grabbing one of her hands. "Florence." Every time he opened his mouth, he swore he had something to say, a sentence, something other than her name, but it kept rushing through his lips. "Florence."

"Sylvester," she said, the last syllable trailing off. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, then opened them again and focused back on him.

"Are you…what…" he was finally saying other words, but they weren't forming complete thoughts. He paused, closing his eyes and counting to five. "How do you feel?"

"I'm tired," she said. Her voice sounded so, tired and weak. "It hurts."

"What? What hurts?"

"Everywhere." He saw her shoulders move; it was barely anything, but he knew she was trying to shrug. "It's fine."

"Oh…" the term of endearment he was going to use caught in his throat. What if she remembered  _him_ , but not  _them_? He knew he could just ask. He should just ask. He took a breath, bracing himself. "Do you remember what happened?"

She frowned. "Bomb. On the job." She took in a long, deep breath. "Did they pay us?"

 _Thank God._  "Yeah. Yeah, they did. You saved Scorpion, baby. You saved Scorpion."

She nodded, looking pleased. "Worth it, then."

Worth it? "You've been in a coma for two weeks." She looked surprised at that. He took her hand, feeling a rush of relief when she squeezed it, because she was awake and it was on purpose. "Yeah. You've been here fourteen days, exactly."

"Worth it," she repeated weakly. "For Scorpion."

"We've all been spending time with you every day. All of us. Everyone has been here."

"I know."

"You do? You can remember?"

Her head moved slightly side to side. "Not a lot. Not…specific. More like a presence."

"Mmm." He ran his thumb over hers.

"Ssssylvester?" Florence said, raising what was left of her eyebrows.

"Hmm?"

"What is it?"

"I'm a mess."

"No you're – "

"I am." She moved her head again, side to side, each action very deliberate. "You make me less of a mess, though." He smiled. So did she. "I did feel that you were here, even though I didn't really know what was going on, or where  _here_  was. But wherever I was, you were there too, so I knew I was going to be okay." Sylvester squeezed her hand, opening his mouth to respond, to tell her how he wouldn't have spent the past two weeks anywhere else, even with the world at stake, but she continued before he could say anything. "I know once upon a time I said I wouldn't do this, but I was misguided. When I was running from the bomb, the only thing I could think about was the things I hadn't done." She shifted her weight, moving ever so slightly onto her side. "When I get out of here, will you marry me?"

Sylvester blinked. "Wait, what?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm tired. Are you going to make me repeat all that?"

He chuckled, leaning over to rest one forearm on her other side and smiling down, his face inches from hers. He could see the exhaustion on her face and the love in her eyes and she wanted to look into his for the rest of her life – a period of time no longer terrifying to think about. "Of  _course_  I'll marry you."

He lowered his head to kiss her, but she tipped her head to the side. "My lips are dry."

"I don't care."

"Mr. Dodd?"

Sylvester straightened up quickly, turning to see one of the nurses standing in the doorway and realizing he should have yelled for them as soon as she woke up. "She's okay!" He said, a big grin on his face. He pointed at Florence, as if there was anyone else he could possibly be referring to. " _She's okay_!"


	27. Chapter 27

These were his streets. Ralph remembered feeling at home here, looking at the buildings and knowing what was inside, seeing the faces of people who, if he didn't know them, at least were recognizable as part of the landscape. He'd been gone for only a month, and had been back just four days, but he felt like the city was closing in on him. Trapping him. He felt anxious, like he'd had a way out, away from everything, and he'd given if up.

He knew he was being dramatic. He was almost eighteen; he had skills and was socialized and was just a few short months away from being able to leave for good, if that was what he wanted. He was capable of making it on his own. He could make a home for himself in New Jersey or anywhere else. Maybe MIT would want him as a professor. Maybe even Oxford – he certainly wasn't limited to the United States. The sky was the limit.

Except his mom was here, his dad was here, and in a couple of months he was going to be a brother. Home wasn't a place, right? It was a feeling, right? It was  _people_ , right? He wasn't supposed to feel so anxious and discontented in the same city that housed most of the people he loved. Put his Scorpion family behind a door and Veronica and Will behind another door and he'd pick Scorpion without hesitation, just as they would choose him. But Los Angeles…he wasn't sure he would choose Los Angeles anymore, and the way he was feeling today, walking down to his favorite frozen yogurt place, he wasn't sure the city would choose him over Mark Collins, much less anyone who might benefit it.

His phone pinged again. It was Brianna, a seventh copy of the same text she had been sending every twelve hours or so since he'd returned.  _I heard you're home?_

By 'heard' she probably meant 'someone saw you at Whitehull' or maybe 'at the library'. Thankfully the text was short enough he could see all of it in the message preview; he didn't have to open the text and let her know he'd seen it. His mother had reminded him the previous night that he could ignore her messages just as much from here as from the East Coast. Now, if he saw her, that would be a different story. But she hated frozen yogurt and he'd pretended to hate it too, when they were together, so he couldn't conjure up a scenario where she might be there, waiting for him.

He entered the building, feeling the coolness of the air conditioning, and he smiled at the girl behind the cash register – she was a long time employee, who had started during the months the teams had been split up when Ralph had practically lived in the shop – and grabbed a bowl, choosing mango. He weighed, paid, and found a corner table, where his back could be to the street and he could see no other customers.

"Rough day, huh?" Rachel called from behind the counter, wiping down the scale and smiling over at him.

"You could say that," he replied. He stared at his receipt. "I got fifteen percent off?"

"I gave you my discount. You looked a bit dejected." She put a finger against her lips. "Shhh."

He smirked. "Got it. Thank you!"

"Sure thing." She looked away from him, putting her Customer Service Face back on and smiling at the couple that walked through the front door. "Good afternoon! Gosh, it's hot out there, isn't it?"

Ralph grunted when his plastic spoon flipped up and he felt a cold, wet splotch on his forehead. He reached over toward the napkin stand near the wall, wiping his brow. It was going to be sticky until he washed his face. Great. He took another scoop on his spoon, popping it into his mouth and immediately closing his eyes and shaking his head. Brain freeze.

It was like this place was rejecting him. Like he'd left, and now he wasn't welcome back.

His phone buzzed again, and he felt annoyance even before he looked at it. But it wasn't an eighth text from Bri – thankfully, because it was too long to read just by the preview that came with the notification.  _Hey bud. Came home and you weren't around. Everything okay?_  Almost immediately afterward, another text followed.  _Apologies for the extraneous question mark. It was not on purpose._

Ralph smirked. He typed out a response.  _The extra question mark can mean extra concern, so I appreciate it. I'm fine. I went out for froyo. How is Florence?_

The typing dots appeared almost immediately. Then  _she's doing better than yesterday. They say she may be able to go home by the end of the week._

That was good to hear. The previous day, Florence had overdone it in physical therapy, which had left her exhausted and in pain. Her lungs were coming along as well as could be expected, but she'd had to go back on oxygen and then spent most of the afternoon sleeping. It would be okay, the doctor had said, now everyone was aware of her limits. But it had been a hard day to visit. Neither Paige nor Walter had blamed Ralph when he'd said, earlier that morning, that he needed to stay away for a day or so.

He texted Walter back.  _Oh good. She'll be happier at home. Mom okay?_  Paige had been somewhat stressed after Florence's minor setback, leaving everyone – except Florence, she hadn't been told about the preterm labor – worried about her own health. She'd slept well the night before, Walter had assured Ralph, but he still worried.

_Oh yes. She's been great all day._

"You folks have a wonderful day, come see us again!"

Rachel's Customer Service Voice jolted him out of the fog, and he blinked in surprise to see that his frozen yogurt was starting to get runny. Oops. He took another scoop on his spoon.

"Did you see hear how those folks were bitching about the price?" Rachel asked, glancing over at Ralph and rolling her eyes. " _I have to pay for all of this? I'm not gonna eat all of this._  Then why did you put that much in your cup?"

"That's wasteful, inefficient, and annoying," Ralph said.

"Tell me about it. Do they just walk out of places and think they aren't gonna get talked about?"

"And then they leave one star reviews on Facebook and Yelp, complaining that you had the audacity to charge them for the product they took."

"You do realize the first one star review that mentioned me by name was your Walter, right?"

"Don't remind me."

* * *

Sylvester was pleased when Florence woke up from her nap after her usual hour and scooted up into a sitting position with nothing other than a wince. It was as if the previous day was much, much farther in the past. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," she said, nodding. "Good. Super normal, I mean, considering."

"How's the ribs?"

"Fine." She paused, as if self – evaluating. "Fine."

"They were all really happy with you today, you know. As long as you're making sure to listen to yourself…"

"I am, okay? I learned my lesson yesterday. If I push too far, it will make me stay here longer. And damn, I hate this place."

"I know. I hate it, too."

"You know this morning in therapy they kept talking about an old man who passed away the night before his granddaughter's high school graduation, and how sad that was, and apparently there's premature twins on five and they're only confident about one of them, and I hate being in the same place as all this sadness. It's hard to process, especially when I'm everyone's goddamn miracle."

Sylvester had heard about the twins – it seemed everyone was talking about them. Them and Florence, because for the first week of the babies' lives – which included the last five days of her coma – they were the miracles everyone was praying for. And he didn't believe in prayer, and he didn't believe in miracles, and he was supposed to just nod along or else he was some sort of asshole.

"Just a couple more days," he said, reaching out to touch her hand, "and then you can come home and be surrounded by a bunch of other people who don't believe in miracles, don't believe love saves, don't believe in good vibes…" He trailed off when he noticed how she was looking at him. "Did I say something wrong?"

He could tell she was biting the inside of her cheek. "Uh, I mean, I don't believe in most of that stuff, but…"

"What part of what I said?" He asked.

"Well, Paige believes in miracles, and it wouldn't shock me if Cabe does, too. But…the love saving someone, part? You…"

"Meg was loved by everyone who knew her. But Multiple Sclerosis doesn't care." He shrugged. "I'm sure it makes the families of the babies feel better and there's some value to that, possibly a great value, but…"

Florence licked her upper lip. "I believe in it in some cases."

"You do?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Like, in my case. But not when I was in the coma, before that."

He cocked his head, and when he spoke, his voice wasn't challenging, but curious. "Explain, please."

She shifted, wincing as she did so. "When I found the bomb, you know, it was so close to going off, and it was big, I…I didn't think I had a prayer. But I knew they were watching, and they would tell you guys what happened. And I thought about you, and how if I didn't at least try…" She blinked rapidly a couple of times. "I could sense you were near me, when I was unconscious, but I have no idea if that actually made a difference as to me waking up. It was like I was swimming in pea soup, and then suddenly, I wasn't. I was awake. But I can't say I would have reacted as quickly, or run as hard, if I wasn't thinking about how you would feel if I had accepted that I was going to die – which I thought was something inescapable. It's like how you told me about that time Walter's brain was dying and he still held on to Paige."

"In that case, though, that  _increased_  his chances of dying."

"I know, but love did that. It gave him adrenaline, desperation brings out the survival instinct and he believed that hanging on to her was what he needed to survive. Just like I may have run faster than I should have been able to because I didn't want you to think I laid down and gave up. And that's what got me far enough from the blast that I'm still here to tell you this." She paused, looked away, then gave a little laugh. "Gosh, that coma changed me. This doesn't sound like me at all."

Sylvester disagreed. This wasn't the Florence she presented to the public, but it was very much the Florence he had come to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So – some of you have already voted, but for those of you that don't know, y'all have the chance to influence a small detail of this story. If you go to my tumblr – webuiltthepyramids dot tumblr dot com, the top post (if you go within 24 hours of this being published, at least) is a link to a poll where you can cast your vote. If you aren't familiar with all of the choices please look them up before you do! I think all of the options would fit for varying reasons and I want to see what you all most want to see represented.


	28. Chapter 28

Ralph tugged a napkin out of the holder at the center of the table. Three more came with it. He muttered to himself.

Florence had just been discharged from the hospital, and Paige and Toby had been gone all afternoon helping Sylvester move her back into her lab, which, while it had doubled as a home for years, had to be reworked to accommodate her wheelchair and the physical therapy equipment Sylvester had rented, and insurance had to be looked over and taken care of. Toby had picked up his mother hours ago, and Walter had just gotten back from a job with Cabe twenty minutes prior. Ralph heard the shower turn off. Everyone was busy. Everyone had a purpose. Everyone knew basically what they were going to be doing for the foreseeable future and everyone seemed pretty happy about it. He was happy for Florence – he knew she was glad to be going home.

He was glad that she knew where home was.

"How has your day been, Ralph?" Walter said, walking out into the open area, his hair still glistening. Ralph realized it had been several minutes since he'd heard the shower turn off. Walter was dressed in casual attire.

"Fine. Fine. How was the job?"

"Other than getting covered in that soot, straightforward. And I suppose the soot really didn't make it any  _less_  straightforward, just less convenient." He scratched his scalp. "I'm gonna head out. Going to the lab."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just wanna help Toby out with the heavy lifting and then I was going to surprise your mom with a massage since her back has been really bothering her."

"Are you rewarding her or punishing her?"

"A  _professional_  massage," Walter said with a wink. "You need anything before I head out?"

He bit his lip. "Can we talk, actually?"

"Ta…oh." Walter nodded slowly. "Okay."

Ralph picked up a napkin from the pile of dislodged ones, staring intently at the design on it. "I feel lost, Dad."

"What's getting at you?" Walter asked, sitting down across from him, the chair making an unpleasant noise against the kitchen floor as he scooted it inward.

Ralph slowly tore the napkin to shreds. "Patty is hoping for an internship in Texas next summer. She could get a job there. Meet a guy there.  _Stay_  there."

"You'll miss her."

"No. I mean, I mean yes, but…" He found the largest shred of napkin and tore it in two. "But what I mean is, when she gets out there, she will know no one. They won't know her. If she shows up late somewhere here, it's a big deal, because it never happens. But if she moves out there and decides she doesn't care about tardiness any longer? No one will find it weird. Because they don't know that about her. I've lived in this city since I was three. My whole history is here. And everyone expects me to finish school and then start working for Scorpion, and I  _want_  that. But I also don't want to be here. And here is where Scorpion is. Here is where you are, and Mom, and the baby. I can't imagine my life doing anything but working with Scorpion and I don't want to do anything else but I also…" He shrugged, beginning to rip the pieces of napkin the other way, from long, thin strips to square ones. "I feel like I'm suffocating here."

"Did going to see Veronica make that better or worse?"

"It's what made me realize it. When I was there, I could have any story I wanted. It was a clean slate. I want that clean slate, Dad."

Walter gave a slow, thoughtful nod. "I can understand that. When I came to the States, I felt very overwhelmed once I realized the ruts I was in in Ireland came with me. So I changed my accent. The only thing that accomplished was fewer girls gave me the time of day than they did when I arrived. I considered that a great success. Not having to parrot the nonsense they said back at them so they could giggle and clutch each other's arms gave me more time to focus on trying to find a cure for my sister, helping Cabe, etcetera."

It wasn't exactly the same thing, but Ralph knew he was trying to understand in any way he could. "Yeah. So if I went somewhere else, I wouldn't have to be  _the kid who got kidnapped over Christmas that one time_. Or  _the kid who nearly failed his summer class once because he was so depressed over his mom and stepdad breaking up._ Or now.  _The kid who got a girl pregnant and wanted nothing to do with them, just like his father._ "

Walter looked upset. "People are saying that?"

Ralph shrugged. "Not to my face. But I know it's out there. And considering I've already been thinking I'm a piece of caca, it's making me want to leave. Get my doctorate somewhere else."

"MIT?"

"Maybe." He shrugged, looking down at the fluffy mess in front of him.

Walter tapped his fingers on the table. "Does any of this have to do with that boy?"

"Will?" He shouldn't have mentioned Will. Shouldn't have mentioned their goodbye kiss. It reminded both his parents too much of an 'experiment' they had apparently conducted a few months after Walter's terrifying cliff experience, and now they were fixated on that. "No. I mean, I guess he got a fresh start when he came out. He'd been forced to live his whole life as a girl and now he gets to introduce himself to people as he really is. But it's not like what I'm dealing with even remotely compares to that."

"Anyone can feel lost or discontent," Walter said. "There's nothing wrong with your feelings just because he may have – or most certainly has, rather – dealt with more from the public than you."

"I know. But he's just so…so happy go lucky. He figures out what he wants and he pursues it. And right now, it's like nothing is calling to me, because the things I want the most conflict. I want to work with Scorpion, but I also want to get the hell out of California. So it's either leave my family and get a fresh start, or stay here and feel like a boa constrictor is wrapping around me."

"I can't give you any advice," Walter said. "And I feel like I'm failing you over that. But where I am never mattered much to me. As long as I have you and your mom and the baby, I think I could be happy anywhere. But I'm farther along in my life than you are. Maybe you need to go away for longer. Make plans. Maybe stay away a year. Then see if you like it or if you miss us more than you enjoy being away."

"That would  _kill_  Mom."

Walter sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We both know that you becoming an adult brings about that possibility. Not everyone stays within a few miles of their parents. Mine are over five thousand miles away."

But Walter had no relationship with Sean and Louise. Ralph loved Walter and Paige more than anything.

"I'm sorry," Walter said after a moment, shaking his head. "I want nothing more than to have the answers for you."

"I appreciate you listening," Ralph said. "This has been eating me up the past few days."

"I'm sorry, bud." The corner of Walter's mouth turned up. "I suppose we could talk to the team and see if they'd mind relocating to Seattle or Chicago."

Ralph gave a little laugh. "I know you're joking," he said, "but yes, please."

Walter laughed back, then grew more serious again. "Seriously though, Ralph – you'll figure it out. You weren't born until I was in my twenties but you know how different I am now from when I was your age. You don't have to have everything figured out now."

Ralph cupped his hands around the shredded napkin. "I guess…they expect us to know what we want with our lives at eighteen. And I'm almost there, and I know it's unrealistic, but…" he shrugged. "I've always been the exception. Exceeding expectations. And this is an expectation that I'm not even close to realizing."

"You know another expectation people have?" Walter asked, raising his eyebrows. "You're in college for a day and people ask if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend yet. People get married straight out of school."

"You got married when you were twenty – six, that's not old for it."

"My  _real_  marriage happened a decade later. And I'm the fifth smartest person on record. Some expectations are ridiculous and you don't have to measure up to them. Hell, the average age to start having intercourse is seventeen; I was in my late twenties when I lost my virginity."

"Wow, loser."

Walter rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

* * *

"God," Florence said, stretching her arms and legs out to the sides. "I was beginning to think I'd only imagined the existence of this bed in some sort of fever dream."

"Ha," Sylvester said, scooting in beside her as she brought her limbs back together. "I can't remember the last full night I spent here. Probably the last time you did."

"It's been forever," she said, shifting onto her side to face him. "I honestly feel great. So much better than I have."

"Good," he said, leaning over and kissing her. "It's so good to have you home. Now we can work on getting back to normal."

"Sounds good to me," she said with a smile, kissing him back and placing her hand on the side of his face. "I missed getting to be close to you like this."

"Me too. Something about a King sized mattress for two that just...it's just better than a tiny hospital bed and a stool."

"Funny how that works," Florence said, with a nod so solemn and serious Sylvester couldn't help but chuckle. He was pleased when she burst into giggles along with him. He loved her laugh. When she was unconscious, of course he had missed  _her_  more than anything specific, but when it came down to those specifics, her laugh was one of the things he craved to hear the most. She was so reserved and serious most of the time; he had known her for months before hearing the way she laughed, but now he couldn't believe he'd gone so long in life without it. It was contagious; he was certain it was the sole ingredient needed to ease anyone's sadness or stress. When her laugh trailed off, she paused briefly to catch her breath, and then she kissed him again.

Sylvester rested his against her side, right where her ribcage ended, smiling when she scooted closer. He happily continued the kiss, pausing only for air, smiling against her mouth. He heard her grunt quietly – he knew for all her happiness and relief at being home, she still couldn't do a whole lot of moving without at least a little pain – and then her hand was running over his chest, fanning out her fingers, sliding up and down his chest and stomach. Her tongue ran along his lips, and he parted them, kissing her back passionately. Her hand curled around the bottom of his shirt, her thumb stroking the skin that became exposed. Sylvester felt a rush of desire, his hand unconsciously moving to her hip, where it brushed over one of her bandages.  _Dodd. What the hell. This is not the time._  Of course Florence wasn't initiating sex, not on her first night out of the hospital, not with the injuries she had. Of  _course_  she wasn't thinking about it, but all of a sudden  _he_  was, and as much as he missed just laying here kissing her, something they used to do all the time, he had to put a stop to this because if he didn't it wasn't going to be long at all before she would be able to tell what was on his mind.

He broke the kiss, moving his hand from her side to the side of her face, stroking her cheek affectionately. "Try to get some rest, Lori. I'll be right here if you need me." He kissed her again, a quick peck, and then rolled on his side away from her, closing his eyes and forcing himself to regulate his breathing until his body stopped thinking about misbehaving. He was asleep within minutes after that.

Florence stayed awake much longer, staring at his silhouette in the darkness, wondering how in a body that had so much wrong, the only pain that wasn't tolerable was coming from the left side of her chest.


	29. Chapter 29

Walter was awakened by the sound of his name, weight on his hips, and an insistent tapping on his chest. "Huh?"

Paige grinned down at him. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"What time is it?"

"Nearly seven."

"Paige," Walter groaned, putting his arm up over his eyes. He wanted to roll on his side away from her, but that was complicated by her sitting on his thighs. "It's Saturday."

"I knowwww," she said, putting her hands on his chest. "But I'm happy, and I want you to wake up and be happy with me."

Walter smiled, doing his best to shake off sleep as he pushed her shirt up over her belly and put his hand against her warm skin. "You're feeling pretty good today, then."

"Yep. I mean, the swelling is starting to get annoying, but eh, goes with the territory." She was still smiling, broadly but not in a way that seemed anything but genuine. Walter had a feeling she wasn't going to be so upbeat about swollen ankles a month from now. He also had a feeling she knew that, too. "Come on, let's get up and…"

"And?"

"Go for a walk, or something."

"You wake me up," he said, feigning annoyance, "you don't even have plans…"

"I want to reach over and grab my pillow to pummel you with, but sadly little Buffer Zone here would prevent it." She pulled her shirt back down.

"Buffer Zone. You haven't floated that one as a possible name, but I like it."

"You're really taking advantage of Buffer Zone here." Paige folded her arms. "Not to worry. I'm keeping track of the back pummeling you're accumulating here."

"Hmmm, are you still just talking about the pillow?"

A mischievous glint appeared in Paige's eye, and she swung her leg over, dropping down on her side next to him. Walter rolled over, sliding his arms around her, one hand going up to tangle in her hair as they kissed. "I wish we could…" he started, then trailed off, mentally kicking himself.

"Yeah, me too," Paige said. "Maybe we really should use the name Buffer Zone."

Walter chuckled. "How old would it be before it hates us?"

"Walter, don't call the baby an it."

"We don't know if it's…if the baby is a boy or a girl."

"So say they, or something. How old will  _they_  be before  _they_  hate us, if we named  _them_  Buffer Zone."

" _They_  don't care if I use they or it," Walter said. "Buffer Zone can hear us, but doesn't know what we're talking about."

" _I_  care, Walter."

The woman made a good argument. "Where is Ralph?"

"Still sleeping," Paige said, cuddling close to him. "It's only seven."

"You don't say." Walter grinned. He loved her like this, happy, her body absent of tension, and the way she was looking at him certainly enhanced the visual. As far as she knew, everything was going positively now. Florence was home, and she was going to be okay. Scorpion Partners was out of debt. Sylvester was dividing his time between caring for her and preparing a case on Ralph's behalf for whenever Brianna decided to throw her weight around next. And Ralph was home.

Paige had no idea about the conflict within her son.

"You okay?" She asked, lifting her head.

Walter realized thinking of what Ralph had told him must have made him unconsciously tense up. "Yeah. Yeah."

She bit the corner of her lip. "I'm sorry we can't do stuff."

"Paige," he said firmly, "it's okay." His hand found one of hers. "We're doing what's best for our baby. I would give up that kind of intimacy forever for them."

Paige smiled. "Me too."

"See? We're on the same page."

"Yep," she said. "Although I'm glad we don't have to give it up forever, because I enjoy being the Paige you're on."

He rolled his eyes, but failed to keep the smirk off his face. "That's clever. Did you make it up yourself?"

"Come on. Let's go out."

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't care, really. I just want fresh air and you."

He was glad she didn't suggest they wake Ralph. He wasn't sure he would be able to pretend he didn't know something was going on with the boy right beside them. "Sounds good to me. Just let me shower real quick."

He hopped into the shower, rinsed his hair, then changed. He wouldn't be caught dead in shorts most of the time, but it was hot and humid, the latter a rarity for their part of the country. "I thought it might be a shorts day," Paige said when he joined her and they headed down the stairs.

"I can't even imagine what you're feeling like."

She shrugged, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together as they exited the building and turned left. "At least I'll be third trimester in the fall. I don't think I could deal with a due date in the middle of the summer in California. So thank you for that," she added with a laugh.

"Ha, yeah." He smiled at her. "I'm glad you're in such a good place today."

"I hope you are, too," she said, giving him an inquisitive look.

"Of course. Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" He wondered if he'd denied too much.

Paige swung their arms. "I almost feel bad for being happy, because I know Ralph is still going to have a lot to deal with with Brianna, but…I don't know. I feel like we've turned some sort of corner. He got some time to clear his head, we got out of debt, Florence is back home, I…" she shook her head. "It's all becoming good again."

Walter tightened his grip on her hand. "Yep," he said. "Yep."

* * *

Florence lay on her back for what simultaneously felt like minutes and hours, staring blankly up at the ceiling, before she sat up and watched Sylvester's back as he furiously typed something into the reply box on one of his fandom message boards.

It was a view she'd had way too much since she'd gotten home.

She was feeling so much better. It wasn't all that long ago that she thought she knew with certainty what living death felt like, and now she was almost an entirely new person. Rejuvenated. Replenished. Reinvigorated.

_I'll take 'things appearing on a Gatorade label for $500, Alex._

She wasn't better yet. She would need the wheelchair for long days for a while – and the only reason she wasn't in her lab right now was the doctor had forbid her from working. There was a machine in the room that would keep it well ventilated to help her lungs. Her body was discolored from scabs and skin grafts, and she still had some weird, newfangled cast – like contraption on her arm. She was getting better, but she  _wasn't_  better, and she got that, but she was well enough now that her survival wasn't an immediate concern. That brought around…well…other thoughts. Thoughts her boyf…fiancé wasn't experiencing with her. She was used to having a libido that was more active than hers, but this…it was different. He didn't use to stop kissing her so abruptly in the kitchenette. He never used to roll away from her at night. Maybe he wasn't overly sexual, but he  _was_  physically affectionate, and she knew that his low sex drive would never be something to come between them because of that. And now…he held her hand and he hugged her and he showered her with words that made her insides melt but any other types of physical affection had been non – existent since she'd come home.

"Are you not attracted to me anymore?" She asked, her voice small.

The typing sound stopped, and Sylvester's chair swiveled until he was facing her. "Sorry, what was that?"

She shouldn't have spoken. But if she said  _nothing_  he would just feel guilty for not hearing her the first time, not being attentive enough, and was she okay? "I uh…" She grunted and then repeated the question.

Sylvester looked at her for a long time. "Is that the impression you got?"

Honesty. Honesty was important. She shrugged, bringing her knees up to her chest and pivoting so they were hanging off the bed. "I don't know, I mean…I thought I was being pretty clear about what I wanted this morning, and the other night, and…you just keep turning away. I suppose…I suppose I don't know how to process that."

"Floren…of course that's not it." Sylvester glided across the floor in the chair, scooting up so he sat across from her, their knees touching. "You've been seriously hurt."

"Yeah. And I know that I've got the skin grafts and the scars and the bandages but…"

"You've never cared much about what you looked like before."

"That's because it usually doesn't matter to me. But I like you liking how I look."

Sylvester reached for her hand. "You have been in so much pain. There is nothing less exciting to me than the idea of hurting you more. What if your scabs tear? What if your stitches bust open? Or you hurt your head again? No matter how careful we are, you're barely well enough to be able to be at home."

"I know that. I know that," she said, exasperation in her voice. She wasn't as well as she felt, no matter how much she wanted to pretend otherwise. "I just miss you. Like that. It's been…"

"I know." He lifted her good hand and kissed it. "Me too, I promise. I love you  _so. much_. Florence, so much." He squeezed her hand gently. "I want to be with you like that too, okay? A lot. And I want you to take the lead on when and how and all that, but I also think we should wait until the…"

"…the doctor okays it." Florence finished with him, albeit not in the way she'd prefer. The doctor hadn't technically s _aid_  no sexual activity, but she wasn't stupid. "If I stop to think about it long enough, I know you're right."

"If I've been physically distant, it's only because I'm afraid of letting things go to far," he said, rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb. "It has nothing to do with a change in attraction to you. That hasn't changed. I swear on, like, all my comic books."

She smirked, then leaned forward slightly, and he smiled, closing the gap between their lips. "You're the greatest thing to ever happen to me, Sly," she whispered, their foreheads touching. "And I know that's not something you can say back, but that doesn't make it any less true for me."


	30. Chapter 30

Florence knew that Paige had been delighted when a job came up that she'd been able to contribute to, but when the younger woman came back to the garage and headed straight to the shower, she was muttering under her breath about how it wasn't supposed to be so damn hot in the fall. Her comments – and the fact that her shirt was clinging to her belly in the same way her hair was to the back of her neck – made the chemist feel a lot better about having to stay behind, especially after she'd missed out on building shelves and a bed frame for the O'Brien baby's room earlier in the week.

Well, maybe not a  _lot_  better. But better. And that was something.

Paige returned with her hair done up in a towel, wearing a maternity dress that fell just above her knees.  _She must have been really hot if she's letting her ankles show_ , Florence thought. Paige had been really self – conscious about lately. Third trimester woes, she had lamented to Happy the previous day. Happy had nodded. It was a brief moment, in front of everyone, that was quickly forgotten as Cabe had detailed the job they would be going on in the morning, but it stood out to Florence. It was a moment of two people, who were already close, enhancing their bond over a shared experience. It was an experience none of the others had.

Florence supposed she  _should_  be glad that swollen ankles weren't on her list of problems.

"You seem deep in thought," Paige said, and it took Florence a moment to realize she was talking about her. Paige smiled. "Everything okay?"

Florence raised her eyebrows. "You mean, considering?"

"No," Paige said. "If something isn't okay regardless of your circumstances, I still want to know."

Florence smiled. "I'm okay. I'm just…I've been thinking about stuff."

"A dangerous past time," Paige said.

She blinked. "What?"

Paige shook her head. "It's a movie reference. Never mind."

"What movie? I should view it so I can understand."

Paige stared at her for a long moment. "I still can't get over how similar you are to Walter."

"My mother used to joke – it hurt, of course, but she thought of it as a joke – that the only thing more terrifying than my personality and interests was if there were two of me."

Paige looked surprised. That annoyed Florence. She knew – she'd been thoroughly schooled on it – that Paige had struggled significantly in life, but she continued to be baffled at how people who were fairly similar to her could treat people who were fairly similar to Florence, or Walter, or any of the others. But she knew she couldn't fully relate to how Paige had struggled either, so Florence supposed she should be happy that there wasn't any challenge of her claim. "Flo, oh my gosh. I'm so sorry to hear that."

How many damn years had they known each other and Paige still couldn't use her full name. "It's no big," she said, shrugging, trying to make it seem cool. "What movie?"

"Huh?"

"The reference."

"Oh.  _Beauty and the Beast. Disney_. The animated one."

"Ah. I will put it on my list. It will be right below  _Just Go With It._  Earlier today Toby suggested I would give him my new air conditioning system for two chickens."

"I'm not entirely sure what that means," Paige said.

"Ah. Well you are welcome to join me for the viewing."

"It's a date. But look, for real, how are you?"

Florence wanted to just shrug and say she was fine. But Paige wasn't one of the doctors or physical therapists. She was a friend – she was family. She was asking because she actually cared, not because she had to write something down. "I'm okay, I suppose. Some aspects of this are more difficult than others."

"Is the therapy pushing you too hard?" Paige asked. "Walter hurt himself pretty badly the first year I knew him and they let him do too much too soon and it really…"

"No," Florence said. "It's just back home stuff. Sylvester stuff. I…" she trailed off. She didn't discuss this type of thing with other people. She decided to finish her sentence vaguely. "I miss being able to do things."

"Ah. Haven't given you the green light on nookie yet, huh?"

It was her turn to blink in surprise. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Not too much Sylvester specific stuff that the doctor wouldn't want you doing," Paige said.

"He hasn't really specifically forbidden it," Florence said, her need to correct overpowering her discomfort with the subject. "He just said not to go overboard with any physical activity. But Sylvester's…worried, you know."

"If he's worried about hurting you with conventional sex, I mean…you guys are aware there's more than one way to skin a cat, right?"

"Uh, well, with his germophobia…" Florence started.

"Please tell me he at least will use fingers."

"Oh. Totally. With gloves, of course. I use them too," she added when Paige gave her a look. "Because fingernails."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. Tongue is out of the question then? Down there, I mean?" Florence looked at her like a deer in the headlights. "Sorry," Paige said. "Are we not comfortable enough around each other to talk about this stuff? That's my bad."

"Do you and  _Happy_  talk about that stuff?"

"No." Paige shrugged. "You're right, sorry."

It occurred to Florence that Paige probably talked to those outside friends she apparently had about stuff like this. "No," she said quickly, "it's…it's a little weird, but it's okay. No, we don't do  _that_. Either one of us," she quickly clarified. "He wouldn't ask me to do something he wouldn't do."

"Good," Paige said. "The first dude I was with was super selfish that way. Thankfully I had enough backbone to get the Hell away from him."

"Glad you found someone who isn't like that," she said, for lack of an idea of anything else to say. And she supposed she was glad that Walter would…maybe glad was the wrong word. That was a weird thing to be glad about, wasn't it?

"Well, Walter's not a germaphobe," Paige said, "But, you know, he wouldn't let me do  _anything_  when we first got together."

"Walter? Really? He never struck me as a prude."

"Well, you only knew him since after he and I started dating. He used to be super uncomfortable with touch, period. And, I mean, it's pretty difficult to be sexually intimate with someone without touching them."

Florence could understand that. She used to be the same way.

Paige stretched her legs out in front of her, running a hand over her belly. "He would do it, give, I mean. But he refused to let me reciprocate. At first I thought he was just trying to be a gentleman, or something like that, which he  _is_ , but turns out he was just super self – conscious of all the attention being given to him while I did all the work. He was too embarrassed about his reactions to let himself really get into it. We were already in love when we started dating and we didn't sleep together for weeks after that but he  _still_  had to get comfortable enough with me to the point where he was okay letting himself go when I was still in complete control of me. I know this isn't exactly the same thing, but Sylvester is probably worried about hurting you in addition to worrying that he may enjoy it more than you and that would make him guilty, self – conscious, or both."

"I get it," Florence said. "I just…I can't do chemistry because I'm having some muscle tremors and I could spill something dangerous – I'm not healthy enough to do what is my  _passion_. I can't go on missions because of I'm not healthy enough. I can't go anywhere by myself because I'm not healthy enough. I can't be intimate with my fiancé because I'm not healthy enough. I can't help you get ready for the baby because I'm not healthy enough. It's like I'm on pause, no, that's not right. I'm trying to move forward, but I can't. I'm  _buffering_." Florence hated that she was starting to sound choked up. "I don't want to be buffering. I want to frickin' play."

Paige pulled a chair up next to where Florence sat and lowered herself onto it. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Florence blinked. "What?"

"You don't always have to move forward in terms of your career. So you can't do chemistry or go on cases right now. I almost always have to stay home from cases this late in my pregnancy, but I'm focusing on getting ready for the baby. There has to be something you can do that will make you happy and feel fulfilled, even if it's not the first thing that comes to mind."

Florence thought about what she was saying. "I can't come up with anything," she said quietly.

"It doesn't have to be big," Paige said, reaching over and lightly patting her arm where she knew there were no bandages. "Just think of something you can accomplish now, and focus on that."

Florence's eyes lit up. "Can I plan your baby shower?"

Paige cocked her head. "We weren't really thinking we'd have…a…yes!" She said, smiling and nodding. "Absolutely. Yes, you can."

Florence's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Paige nodded again. "Sure!"

"Amazing." Florence slowly began to rub her hands together. "I actually think I have some ideas."

"Science games?" Paige asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No," Florence said, reaching over and grabbing her phone, opening up the note app. "But that's a very good idea.  I'm gonna jot that down."


	31. Chapter 31

Paige could relate to Florence's frustration regarding intimacy.

She felt fine. Great, even, considering the natural progression of a third trimester pregnancy. If she hadn't gone into labor when Florence was in the hospital, she wouldn't have any restrictions. She wouldn't have to be careful to not let things get out of hand when she and Walter had time alone at home. She wasn't used to being careful around Walter.

So now, her back against the side of the fridge with him pressed up against her side, his arms around her and their mouths mashed together, she knew they had to stop. What had started as some innocent, giggly kissing before he headed out had quickly heated up and she foolishly let it, and now they were dangerously close to making a mistake and she wasn't sure she had the willpower to prevent it. She slid a hand up into Walter's hair, lightly scratching his scalp, her other hand gripping his arm, nails digging into his skin.

"Paige." Walter tore his lips from hers, burying his head into her shoulder. "We…we can't."

"No," she whined, knowing he was right, grateful he was doing what she hadn't been sure she could, but… "No, maybe it'll be okay." His body was angled against hers in a way that she could feel how turned on he was, but it wasn't just guilt at letting them get to this point that made her want him to go back to kissing her.  _God, I just want you so much._  She wasn't guaranteed to go into labor. Maybe it would all be fine.

Walter groaned against her neck. "Paige, you know we can't."

She knew. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did something that would risk their baby. "This is so hard," she said.

He lifted his head for a moment and kissed her cheek. "I know."

Both of them were panting heavily. Paige slid an arm around his neck, her other hand reaching down to rub him through his clothing. "If you go sit down, I can – " she cut herself off when he tensed and grabbed her wrist. "Walter, I  _don't_  mind."

"You're not doing anything I can't do back."

"It doesn't make sense for  _both_  of us to be frustrated. Doesn't that tie into your whole efficiency thing?"

"Nope," Walter said, as if he'd been anticipating the question. He lifted his head again and craned his neck so he could brush his lips against hers. He tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled at her. "I'm just gonna go shower."

"Walter," she said quickly, grabbing his arm as he walked past her. "Please don't."

"Well…I mean, I can't exactly go out like this."

"No, but please let me."

He sighed. "Paige."

She shook her head, stepping closer to him and undoing the button on his pants with one tug. "I want to. I want whatever intimacy we can get. It's better than nothing, for me too, I promise." She eased her hand into his boxers, kissing him and feeling him hum against her lips. "Please let me," she murmured. She'd been jolted back to reality; she wouldn't let this get out of hand. She'd be agitated for the rest of the morning, but Walter didn't have to be.

"Mmm, Paige," he sighed, dropping his head and kissing her shoulder.

She pressed her cheek against his hair, closing her eyes, enjoying the closeness and the way he was breathing. "That's it," she said, taking his earlobe in between her lips and teasing it with her tongue, matching the rhythm she set with her hand. She felt him exhale sharply against her neck, feeling the warmth from his breath. "That feels good, huh?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Better than the shower?"

"God, yes."

"Good." It was good. She knew he'd do the same for her if he was the one with a restriction. He'd make sure she'd be on shaky legs if she could walk at all afterward. There was so much she wanted to do with him that she couldn't, but at least she could get a level of satisfaction watching and feeling him get into that state.

She slid her free arm around him when he moaned against her cheek, not able to support him physically but wanting to stay close, make this as intimate as possible. "I love you," she whispered, tilting her head to kiss his neck in just the right spot that would make him unable to answer her. She could hear him taking deep breaths, trying to regulate his breathing. They were standing in the middle of the hall, nothing to support them, and when she flicked her tongue against his neck while briefly increasing the pace of her hand,  _his_  hands gripped her shoulders as his knees buckled and he pushed his hips up to their most intimate point of contact. Part of her toyed with the idea of trying to make his knees give out entirely, but that wasn't smart - he could bring her down with him - and she'd already almost made one very bad mistake today. But that didn't mean she couldn't make him lose his mind. She just had to change their location.

Sit on the couch," she whispered when he'd righted himself. "Let me do this right."

* * *

Paige had a dentist appointment at eleven, and when she walked into the garage that afternoon, it didn't surprise her to discover that Happy and Toby had already finished up their work for the day and had gone to meet the kids, Allie, and Cabe for that trip to the zoo that they'd been talking about all week. Tad had been taunting Ellie about the animal names he could pronounce that she couldn't, so Paige wasn't sure she was jealous of the Quinn – Curtises or the Gallos for committing to several hours of that.

"Hi, Mom."

Paige looked across the garage, seeing her son walking toward her with a pudding cup in his hand. Perfect. If there was anyone who could get her to stop fantasizing about Walter having his way with her on the kitchen table, it was most definitely her child. "Hey, baby."

"Can I talk to you about something?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Is everything okay?"

She felt a small rush of anxiety when Ralph hesitated. "Uh, well, not no, but not exactly yes either."

"Come with me. Let's go to the roof."

Ralph shook his head. "Florence and Walter are up there. Something about planning your baby shower? But yeah, gotta be down here." He gestured to the couch. "Here?"

"Yeah, okay." She followed Ralph, settling down carefully and angling herself toward him. "Talk, sweetheart."

"Okay, so, um…" His hesitation was making her fret. Was Bri doing something? Did he, God forbid, get in trouble with someone else? She wrung her hands, hoping he didn't notice. "Sorry, Mom, I just don't know how to say this."

Rats. He noticed.

"Ralph, you can tell me anything, you know that."

"I know." He bit his lip. "Mom, I feel…I feel lost."

Well. If she had one hundred guesses, that wouldn't have been it. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, remember when we waited up all night to see if that girl Olivia's body would accept the transplanted heart? I feel like I'm the heart, and Los Angeles is the body, and it's not sure if it wants me."

Paige licked her bottom lip. "Okay."

"Going to see Grandma really helped me think about things. Someone more poetically inclined than me might liken it to a breath of fresh air, or something. But then I come back here, and, well…it's like I'm aware of the smog. But also metaphorically." The boy frowned. "I'm not making any sense."

"No, Ralph, you do," Paige assured him, reaching out and briefly touching his knee. "Do you think this might be depression? Do you need to go talk to someone, maybe?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. I feel like the only thing that would make me feel better would be going somewhere. Making my life in another part of the state, or another state itself…but then there's you. You and Walter and the little one. And I can't imagine a life without seeing you guys all the time but I also can't imagine waking up in this city for the rest of my life. Or even for the foreseeable future."

 _No. This isn't how it's supposed to be. This isn't how any of this is supposed to be._  "I'm glad you were comfortable enough to tell me," she said, realizing as she said it that considering the topic, she likely wasn't the first person he'd told. "Does Walter know?"

Ralph nodded. "Please don't be mad. I just thought maybe he could rationalize this out – "

"I'm not mad at you."

"Not at me, at him."

"Oh." Paige shrugged. "No, sweetheart. I learned earlier this year that sometimes one parent needs to know things before the other parent and it's not that parent's place to tell the other one. Back when you told me about Bri," she added, even though realistically she knew he didn't need clarification. In all honesty, knowing Ralph trusted Walter enough to go to him – like, explicitly  _knowing_  it – just made her all the more confident in who she'd chosen to spend her life with. She reached over and touched her son's knee again. "I wouldn't do anything rash. And I'm not just saying that because I want you with me. But let's wait until Bri has her baby."  _Wait until I have mine._  "See how you feel once Sylvester works out our defense. And if you still feel smothered, trapped, then we…we can talk about maybe grad school in another state. Okay?"

He nodded. "Okay. Thanks for listening. And for not getting mad." He bit his lip. "You're the best mom I could have asked for, you know? I want you to know that."

"Oh, baby." She scooted closer, putting and arm around him and hugging him against her. "You're the best kid I could have asked for, too."

She could tell Ralph was smirking when he patted her stomach and said "you hear that, small one?  _I'm_  the best." He stayed in her arms for another minute, then lifted his head. "I need to go meet Patty. We'll talk later?"

"Of course," she replied, mussing up his hair just because she could. He made a show of jumping up and running his hands back through it. " _Mo-om._ " Grinning at her, Ralph grabbed his backpack and headed for the door.

Paige watched him go, her hands on her stomach, then gave a deep sigh and stood up, heading for the stairs. She was tired. She needed a nap.

She met Walter on the landing. "Hey," he said, an affectionate smile on his face. "Everything go okay at the dentist?"

"Huh? Oh," she said, shaking her head as she remembered that she had come from there. "Yeah. Yeah, great."

"You…okay?"

She sucked in a long, deep breath. "Ralph talked…to me about…" She could tell by Walter's expression that he knew what she was referring to.

Bless him, she thought, for not trying to say anything, and just putting his arms around her when she started to cry.


	32. Chapter 32

_You are invited. Please join us to celebrate the upcoming birth of Walter and Paige O'Brien's little guy, gal, or nonbinary pal. Join us on October 3_ _rd_ _at the Gallo household at one p.m._

"It's at Cabe and Allie's?" Paige said in surprise when Walter showed her the invitation. "I told Florence to make sure it wasn't going to put any unnecessary pressure on anyone." She smiled in amusement at the handwritten  _duh, you are the one gestating_  above the part of the invitation that stated the recipient was, in fact, invited.

"Oh, she brought that up several times when they offered," Walter said. "Cabe told me about it. But they insisted. Allie especially. Toby said she's projecting her feelings about never having children of her own onto us. She wants to mother us, just like Cabe is a father figure. I guess allowing the baby shower to be at their house makes her happy, or something."

Paige chuckled at the way he explained it so well without fully understanding it. "Well, they do have that roomy living area."

"Uh – huh, plus Cabe will be able to…uh…." Walter sat down on the couch next to her, clearing his throat. "Well, he likes hosting. And all that. But Florence is very excited, you know. She has all sorts of games planned, although she won't tell me what they are beyond, as she says,  _the boring ones like Don't Say Baby._

"I always win that game," Paige said. "There are a ton of alternatives to 'baby'. Like  _the little one,_  or  _child_. And then there's  _offspring._ "

"Fetus, human parasite, spawn."

She blinked. "I mean, yeah, if you want to go that route those work, too." She smirked. "Buffer Zone."

"Watch it, ahem, watch  _them_  be born without us having decided on anything."

"We really do need to make some decisions before they're born," Paige said. "I was just thinking about everything last night, and not just about names."

"What else?" He asked.

"Well for starters, if we have a boy, are we circumcising?"

Walter didn't respond for a moment. Then, "what was done with Ralph?"

Paige wasn't entirely keen on discussing her seventeen – year – old in that way, but it  _was_  a valid question given the circumstances. "Drew wanted him to be. I didn't have an opinion on the procedure at the time and it was standard practice."

Walter nodded. "Well, as you know, it's not very common in other places, other than for Jewish or Muslim folks. My folks didn't find it necessary and personally I don't think it's right to modify someone else's body without their consent, religious reasons or no, although I know you and I don't see eye to eye on religion, and I don't know if you would just rather have both your sons the same way, or..."

He fell silent as Paige nodded in agreement. "We may have different beliefs in the existence of a higher power - "

"Or lack therof."

"Or lack therof, sure. I feel the same as you do in regards to this, though. So if little Buffer Zone is a boy, we leave him alone. And if we have a girl, no piercing the ears either – she can decide that on her own."

"Yes. We  _really_  need to pick actual names," he said. "Because I'm starting to get attached to Buffer Zone and that's not good."

She scooted closer to him and grabbed his hand. "I like the idea of naming a boy after you."

His face brightened. "Really? You do?"

"Of course," she said. "It's a lovely name, and I know you've wanted that."

"Well…it's more that I've always thought about how much it would mean knowing that someone thought highly enough of me to want to name their child after me."

"Walter Matthew O'Brien," Paige said, letting it roll off her tongue. She looked at her husband, her eyebrows ticking up. "What do you think? You and my dad? Do you like that?"

Walter nodded, squeezing her hand. "I do. What about a girl?"

Paige thought a moment, noticing Walter seemed deep in thought as well. Paige sat up a little straighter. "You're gonna call me crazy," she said. "But what about Florence?"

Walter gave a little laugh. "If someone had told me four years ago you would one day be suggesting we name our kid after Florence Tipton I would have considered that a very weird and poorly executed white lie."

"I know," Paige said. "But she did nearly give her life for Scorpion."

"That she did," Walter said. "I wouldn't be opposed. Although…" Paige cocked her head, waiting for him to continue. He cleared his throat. "Megan used to play a game with dolls when she was a kid. That she was the mother. Her doll's name was Amber. She said that was her first choice for a name if she ever had a daughter. This all before her diagnosis, of course." He tapped a finger against one of his knees. "When she passed away, and then when you and I started dating, I had thought a bit about at least bringing that name up, if me having children ever was going to become a reality."

"Amber Florence," Paige said. "I honestly like that. It has a nice ring to it."

Walter nodded, smiling. "I think so, too."

"So, Walter Matthew O'Brien or Amber Florence O'Brien," Paige said, running her hands over her belly. "Oh, I can't wait to meet you. I still may call you Buffer Zone until you're born, though."

"Hold on," Walter said, "what if we have a...uh..." he grabbed the invitation from her and studied it. "A nonbinary pal?"

"Then they can tell us what they want to be called when they're old enough to come up with a name that doesn't sound like a Disney or comic book character," Paige said. "But I think for now we can stick with the two names."

Walter slid his arm around her shoulders, placing a hand over hers. "We made it, Love."

She smiled. "We did. Lots of wrong turns and with a lot of extra stops. But we did." She leaned over and kissed him. "Now if only Ralph was happy here."

"He's not unhappy with  _us_ ," Walter said quickly.

"I know. He's just looking for a place to be his. I just wish that place was here. When we started trying I…I just never imagined raising Ralph's brother or sister without him around. And now I have to face reality and that reality is that he could be hours away."

Walter was quiet for a moment. "I don't want him to go away any more than you do," he said, stroking her hand with his thumb. "I love him like he's my own. Nothing makes me happier than getting to see both of you every day. But you know we can't keep him here forever, and who knows? Maybe he'll go away for grad school and then realize that this is actually where he  _does_  want to be."

She nodded slowly. She knew that. But she also knew he could go away and decide he never wanted to come to Los Angeles again. His father certainly hadn't liked this place.

The moment the thought entered her head, Paige felt a rush of self – loathing. It didn't matter that it wasn't in front of her son, or even that she didn't say it out loud. She'd compared Ralph to Drew – the very comparison he had been so stressed about since Bri announced her pregnancy.  _I'm a horrible mother._

Walter looked alarmed, and she realized she'd said it out loud. "Paige, what…why would…" He was struggling with his words, she could tell by the way his brow furrowed and his leg bounced. He stammered another moment, then hugged her tighter, kissing her firmly on the cheek. "Don't think like that. Don't be ridiculous. You're perfect."

Sudden enhanced physical affection and a compliment. Yep, he had no idea how to react to what she'd said. Paige shook her head. "Never mind. I was just thinking about something and then my mind went in a million directions. Don't worry about it."

He lifted a hand up to stroke her hair. "If you say so."

Paige rested her head on his shoulder, lifting her feet up onto the coffee table. "I just want us all to be together and happy. That's all I've ever wanted. My family all together. We were so close to that being my reality and it's so hard to think that it may all have been a pipe dream."

* * *

"Are we going to bring this later?" Sylvester asked, tapping the back of the wheelchair. "I can go get the van."

"Nope," Florence said. "I went all day without it yesterday and felt fine, and today will be even more sitting down than yesterday was." She stretched, savoring the feel of the warm water on her skin. She hadn't taken a bath in…she didn't eve have a confident way of finishing that sentence. The doctor had advised against going all out and making it a bubble bath – she could irritate some of her skin issues – but laying in the warm water was so relaxing she wondered why on earth she hadn't made this a habit already. "I think I'm gonna forego showers for baths on a permanent basis."

"That's terribly inefficient of you," he joked, kneeling down next to the tub and resting his arms on the rim, and his chin on his arms.

"Only if you consider it a mission to get clean and move on with the day," Florence said. "If you mean letting your stress out and feeling rejuvenated, this is an incredibly effective decision."

He grinned. "Fair enough. On another topic, I look forward to see what you have planned for Paige's shower. It's like I've barely seen you these past couple of days so it'd better be the best baby shower I have ever been to."

His tone was teasing, but Florence was competitive. "How many have you been to?"

"Uh…just Ellie's," he admitted.

"So as long as Tad doesn't throw up, I think I'm golden." She lifted her hand out of the bath and flicked droplets of water at him. "And you've seen me plenty. I've just been busy. Getting the games together, figuring out the food, and trying to arrange…uh…" she trailed off, clearing her throat. No one here was suppose to know about that. Walter had been doing an excellent job of keeping the secret; like Hell was she going to be the one to ruin it. "You know, arrange all the details. This is going to be one badass baby shower, trust me."

Sylvester smiled, and it was a mix of affection and amusement. "I'm sure it will be."

Florence glanced at the watch on his wrist. She really had to start getting ready. That took longer now. But she could stay in the bath longer if Sylvester helped her get ready. "You gonna be able to help me get into some clothes?"

"Of course."

"Good. Thank you." She tipped her head back against the edge of the bath tub and closed her eyes. "Now leave me alone and come back in twenty minutes to help me get up."


	33. Chapter 33

****

"Hey, so glad you could make it!" Florence said, smiling broadly at Walter and Paige as they entered the Gallo foyer.

Paige raised an eyebrow, glancing at Walter. "Would…would the party be…happening if we couldn't make it?"

"Oh." Florence looked flustered for maybe a half a second. "Nope, but it is nice to see you both regardless, and you got here before most of the others, which is preferable as everyone will want to see you, Paige. Especially the surprise guest."

"Surprise guest?" Paige asked, cocking her head. "Oh God," she said, looking back to Walter. "It's Ray, isn't it?"

"Hey, you two!" Cabe walked into the living room before Walter could answer. "Paige, sweetheart," he said warmly, holding out his hands. Paige walked into the hug. "You look beautiful," he whispered.

"Thank you, Cabe."

"Please go into the kitchen and say hello to Allie," Cabe said. "She's making some salad. You two haven't seen each other in a bit."

Paige nodded, smiling, then left the others behind as she headed down the hallway. She could vaguely hear Walter and Florence whispering about something as she moved out of earshot.

Allie was shredding some cheese over the top of a sizeable bowl of salad. "Paige!" She said with a broad smile, dropping the cheese and grater and giving her a hug very similar to Cabe's. "How  _are_  you?"

"I'm great," Paige said, "you know, if you can get past the sore back, swollen ankles, and activity restrictions."

"Minor details," Allie said in a joking tone. "Honestly, I'm so envious of you. Not of the unfortunate symptoms, of course, but, well, you know I never had the chance to have children of my own."

"You do have them," Paige said with a smile. "You have all of us. And you got to skip the dependent and rebellious phases.

Allie raised an eyebrow. "Did I, thought?"

Paige swore nine years of Scorpion's antics flashed before her eyes in an instant. "Fair enough."

" _Have no fear, Tadmuth is here!"_

Paige and Allie glanced in the direction of the noise, even though there was a wall blocking any visual. "Tadmuth?" Paige asked, turning back to the older woman.

Allie shrugged. "Tad has convinced himself he needs a name that sounds more distinguished. Of course he didn't say distinguished and I think pretentious is more apropos, but he's going by Tadmuth now. He says when he's eighteen he's officially changing it. Ellie says she wants a fancy name, too. She's actually very angry that her parents just named her Ellie and that it's not a nickname for Eleanor."

"Well, I'm sure in a couple weeks Tad will decide that longer names are stupid and then Ellie will go back to being glad it's not Eleanor."

"They do get hot and cold fast, don't they?"

Paige was about to answer when Florence stuck her head inside the kitchen. "Hey, I need you guys to put these clothespins somewhere on you. We're officially starting the Don't Say Baby game – so from here on out if you say it, someone can call you on it and take one of the clothespins. Everyone starts with four. Whoever has the most at the end of the shower wins a prize."

"Don't Say Baby game?" Allie asked. "I can't believe I've never played this."

"Your rookie status is showing," Florence said, handing Paige four pins and Allie three. "I'll keep this last one, one point for me."

"Why do you…oh," Allie said, realizing her mistake. "Damn."

Paige slipped out of the kitchen, heading back to the foyer and living area. She smiled in greeting to Happy and Toby as she reached back to brace herself against Cabe's easy chair as the children rocketed up from the floor toward her. "Aunt Paige!"

"Well, if it isn't my favorite nephew and niece," Paige said. "Tadmuth and Eleanor."

"Tadmuth and Eleanor!" They shouted together in delight.

"Baby!" Ellie said when she'd come down from her excitement over a longer name, lightly smacking Paige's belly. "Come out and take a shower!"

"That's not how this works, dumb butt," Tad said. "You can't take a shower until you're five. You're  _not_  five." He looked up at Paige. "Tell her she's not five!"

Florence appeared. "Ellie, you'e not five, and you have to give me one of your clothes pins."

"I didn't say it!" Ellie protested. Florence raised an eyebrow, holding out her hand. Ellie pouted, yanking a pin off of her shirt and handing it over.

"Loser," Tad said. Ellie stuck her tongue out at him.

"We, uh, we know you said you just wanted books," Toby said, walking up to Paige and giving her a hug, "but we have a ton of diapers Ellie has outgrown, so they're over on the table too."

"I really appreciate it," Paige said. "When Ralph was a baby, we were always stressing over diapers."

"Where is Ralph, anyway?" Toby asked.

"He should be here any minute," Paige said. "He and Patty were working on something for one of her classes."

"Is that code for Bri is causing an issue?" Happy asked.

"Nope," Paige said, "this time it's really her class. He hasn't seen Brianna since before he went to New Jersey, as far as I know."

"And good friggin' riddance," Happy said, shaking her head. "I'm glad he's been able to stay away from her. Sometimes it's harder than one would think, even if you have no regrets about breaking up. Feelings can still linger."

"I'm sure he still has feelings for her on some level," Paige said. "But he has no interest in getting back together. Not after what she did."

"And especially not with what she's doing now," Toby agreed.

"Okay, everyone," Florence said, clapping her hands together. Everyone looked up. "Food will be ready shortly, and we still have a few guests to arrive, but I thought we could start with an easy game. You can fill out the sheets Sylvester here is passing out at your leisure, and answers will be revealed at the end.

"What is this?" Paige asked as Sylvester handed her a sheet with a numerical list on it as well as a cardboard square.

"This game is simple," Florence said. "You all have a cardboard info sheet and an answer sheet. Flip it over and you'll see sixteen photographs of women from the neck up. This game is called  _Labor or Porn?_  Study the facial expressions and write down which source material you think each image came from, and…"

Florence trailed off when Toby and Paige burst out laughing. "This ist he most messed…up…" Toby bent at the waist, wheezing. Paige leaned against Walter, a hand over her mouth, hoping she wouldn't find anything funny enough that her water would decide to break. The chemist looked pleased with herself. "It's a great idea, isn't it?"

Happy was studying the cardboard chart. "Are these not all porn?"

"I promise that the less frequently represented answer is still the answer at least thirty five percent of the time," Florence said. "Everyone, you can sit down at any of these tables," she gestured to the card tables that had been set up in the living room and start working on your answers. We should have food in just a couple of minutes." Her phone pinged, and she glanced at it, clearing her throat and gesturing toward the door to her left. "Walter? Duck in here a sec?"

Walter followed her out of sight, and Paige settled down in one of the chairs at a front table, studying the game. The first one was definitely labor. The second…a stark whiteness made up the entire background. Porn. She was on the sixth image when someone tapped her answer sheet, making her look up. "Hey, Ralph, hey, Patty."

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe Florence bought  _Labor or Porn_?," Patty said with a laugh. "We played a version at my cousin's shower last fall. Hot tip – there is always one that looks like it just  _has_  to be labor, but it isn't."

Well, now Paige was questioning her answers to one and three.

"Go grab some boards, Ralph," Patty said. "I got a ticket to the latest  _Jurassic Park_  that I beat you."

Paige watched her son head for the game table, and he waved at Walter as the older man and Florence reappeared. Paige smiled at her husband as he came up and sat beside her. He was only wearing two clothes pins. "She may be but little, but she is fierce, huh?"

"Hmm?" Paige tapped one of the pins still attached to her. "Oh. Yeah. She's intense. But we already knew that." She shifted her weight. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Walter said, glancing over his shoulder at the front door.

Paige raised her eyebrows. "I know that tone. Something's going on."

"Nope," Walter said. Right after he spoke, the doorbell rang, and a small smile began to creep over his face. Florence flew across the room to answer it, glancing back over her own shoulder at Walter and Paige. Paige narrowed her eyes, confused.

Her befuddlement only lasted a moment, until Florence stepped aside and Paige got a full view of who had just arrived. Her jaw dropped.

"Paige."

"Mom."


	34. Chapter 34

It wasn't that Paige thought she would never see her mother again. When she'd first gone on the run, Paige assumed the former grifter would pop back in at some point, or they might run into her on a job because Team Scorpion had a way of randomly running into complicated people from their pasts. But it had been almost six years, and Veronica had almost completely fallen off of Paige's radar, even despite Ralph and her staying in fairly regular contact. She had gotten to the point where wondering if they would ever see each other again just wasn't something she did. She certainly never expected to see her walking in the door at her baby shower. If someone had told her that ahead of time, she knew she wouldn't have been able to discern how she felt about it. Yet her husband had to have known – this had to have been what Walter and Florence had been whispering about the past few days – that when she saw Veronica Dineen standing there, Paige would feel herself choking up as she crossed the room, holding out her arms.

"Oh, baby." Veronica hugged her as best as she could. "Oh, sweetheart, we were hoping you would be happy to see me."

"Be careful," Paige said. "Florence may show up and demand you give her a clothes pin."

Her mother blinked. "Well, I'm sure that means something."

Movement behind her mother told Paige someone else had arrived, but the teenager who walked through the door and glanced Veronica's way hesitantly wasn't someone Paige recognized. The boy scanned the room, and Paige followed his eyes, noting the recognition in Ralph's a split second before her son jumped up. "Will!"

They were either in an episode of Stranger Things, or this was the boy Ralph befriended when he was in New Jersey. Paige and Veronica separated and watched as Ralph hurried across the room and the teenagers hugged. "Mom," Ralph said, "this is Will Pauley from…" his eyes widened. "Grandma!"

"Well your observational skills are operating on a bit of a lag," Will said with a smirk.

"Hey, sweetheart," Veronica said, pulling Ralph into a hug. "Long time, no see."

"Pssh," Ralph said, "say that to your daughter."

Veronica turned to Paige. "Honey, I have something for you. It's not here, but it's on its way. Walter said you've already gotten the baby's room fixed up, but, and oh, I should have given this to you eighteen years ago, but you know that I wasn't in the best place to…"

"Mom," Paige said, raising her eyebrows. "Stop for breath."

"Right." Veronica shook her head. "Honey, I know you don't remember this, but when you were born, your father and I were very young, and I was worried I wouldn't form a connection with you. Your father made me a rocking chair, and I sat with you in that chair every night until you fell asleep. And all through these years, I never sold it or gave it away. It's been in storage since you were four years old. And now it's on a truck from Texas to your place."

Paige's eyes widened. "I remember that rocker! Oh, Mom, I don't…I don't know what to say."

"Say a certain four – letter word and then give me a clothespin." Florence had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "I mean, if you're taking suggestions." She turned toward Veronica. "Hi. I'm Florence Tipton. I'm the party planner I'm sure Walter mentioned on the phone."

"He mentioned a friend of his who was helping out with…" Veronica cleared her throat. "Party planner, yes. Yes, he mentioned you as the party planner."

"Walter O'Brien!" Florence shouted, even though Walter had come up to stand just feet away. "I wasn't  _helping out_  with this party. This is  _my_  party."

"It's actually my party," Paige pointed out.

"Technically speaking it's the baby's party," Ralph said over his shoulder as he and Will disappeared down the hall.

Paige cleared her throat. "Florence has done a phenomenal job putting this together," she said, recalling the older woman's admission of frustration the previous month. She needed – and deserved – the credit. "There's a game we've already started if you wanted to…" she trailed off, her cheeks flushing.  _I just suggested my mother play Labor or Porn?_  "Florence can tell you about it."

"Oh, you're Florence!" Veronica said, the earlier introduction seemingly just hitting her. "You're looking great, dear. And a real hero!"

"Oh." Florence's cheeks turned pink. "Thank you. I'm not a hero, though I do appreciate that."

"You saved Team Scorpion," Veronica said. "That's a hero to me."

"Anyone would have done what I did," Florence said. "I didn't know how dangerous it would be when I took the job, but any one of us would go into a risky situation to protect anyone else. That's what scorpions do."

"I like her," Veronica said, looking back at Paige and giving a wink.

Paige smiled. "So do we." She turned to Walter. "You knew about this."

"I did," he said. "Just a little bit."

"Thank you," she said, grabbing his hand and kissing it. She glanced at Florence. "I am thanking you just as much but I'll refrain from the kissing."

"You're welcome, and I appreciate it." Florence smiled. "Mrs. Dineen, there is a spot available at Paige and Walter's table."

Paige was amused at how there was only about a dozen people at the party and Florence was speaking as if it was a large – scale event. Maybe amused wasn't the right word. She knew the chemist was so gung – ho about this shower because she wanted to feel like she could do something, but she also knew she wouldn't have asked to do it if she didn't care.

They returned to the table, and Allie appeared to say the food was ready. Paige was pleasantly surprised at all the options – and especially pleased that there was a large jar of peanut butter and sliced apples, something she had been craving of late. She and her mother made small talk while they filled their plates, Paige trying to get a feel for what Ralph may or may not have said to Veronica when he was visiting.  _Was he happy? Was this wanderlust thing already starting? Is he fleeing to keep himself from going back to Bri?_

Walter discreetly patted her on the rear when he passed by with his food, and she smiled at him. "Have you seen Ralph?"

"Not since they got here," he said. "Hand me the fish sauce?"

Paige passed the bottle. "Allie and Cabe really outdid themselves on the food."

"They did," Walter agreed. "Also, Florence spent a good part of Monday on the phone borderline bullying the deli down the street into doing a rush order. I think she made someone cry. Actually I know she made someone cry, I just don't know who it was."

"Hmm, well as a former waitress that makes me sad. But as a pregnant woman who eats like a horse, I'll appreciate her efforts today and apologize to the deli tomorrow."

"Sounds like a flawless plan."

They were back to their table when Ralph and Will reappeared, both of their cheeks flushed. "Food is ready?" Ralph asked.

"Yes," Sylvester said. "Where have you two been?"

"Nowhere. Nothing," Ralph said quickly, Will blurting "nothing, nowhere," at the same time.

 _Well,_  Paige thought,  _seems he's certainly over Bri._

The boys disappeared into the kitchen and returned minutes later with heaping plates of food. "This pastrami is to die for," Will said. "Speaking of the phrase  _to die for_ , that actually reminds me of a joke I heard."

"No," Ralph said immediately.

"I wouldn't mind hearing a joke," Walter said.

"No," Veronica said.

Will cleared his throat. "You're right. Not the best for mixed company. But when I get to know the rest of you better, let me tell you, it's a hoot and a half."

Paige zoned out as she ate, watching the teenagers interact. The younger boy seemed to be just as wonderful as Ralph had told her, but given what else her son had told her lately, she was feeling a bit uneasy.

"Okay, folks!" Florence said, standing up at the front of the room and clapping her hands together. "Hope everyone is enjoying the food. Cabe and Allie did a phenomenal job. That salad was killer, as I believe the kids are calling it these days."

Sylvester chuckled.

"So I do have another fun shower game for us," Florence said. "Sweetheart?"

Sylvester jumped up, grabbing a large cloth and putting it up against the wall, where Paige had noticed some Velcro. The cloth had a shape in the center that closely resembled a circle. Reaching for a bucket, Sylvester handed it to Florence, then turned to the group and bowed for dramatic effect. Veronica started applauding. Will enthusiastically joined her.

"So we all know that game from birthday parties – those of us invited to them, anyway – where you pin the tail on the donkey. This is like that, but with the theme of the afternoon."

"Pin the tail on the baby?" Toby asked.

"You said it!" Happy shouted.

"Dammit," Florence said, snapping her fingers as Toby handed his wife a clothes pin.

"What's this game, Flo?" Veronica asked.

"It's Florence," she said, "and this game is called Pin The Sperm on the Egg."

With the look Happy gave the chemist, Paige was glad Ellie was asleep and Tad wasn't paying attention. For Florence's sake.

"Who wants to go first?" Florence asked.

"I will," Allie said. "This looks like fun."

Cabe looked at her in surprise. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah!" She stood up, taking the blindfold Sylvester gave her and securing it around her eyes. Paige watched as she was spun around, handed a, well, a Velcro sperm, and aimed toward the target. She reached out, securing it to the background right on the edge of the egg.

"Not bad, not bad," Toby said as everyone applauded politely. "I'll go next."

The first time, despite Florence stopping his spinning when he was facing the target, Toby headed off in the wrong direction, nearly tripping over the Dineen – O'Brien table before Sylvester managed to catch up to him and send him off toward the target again. He triumphantly smacked his hand against the wall, completely off the cloth, the felt sperm falling to the floor. "Whoops." He bent down, feeling around until he located it, and then put it against the wall again, this time hitting the cloth – just barely, and completely outside of the outline of the egg.

Happy tugged Tad closer and cuddled him. "And that's how we got you."

"I'm not sure I should spin," Paige said when it was her turn. "That may fall under the physical activities I'm not allowed to do. And I've already been laughing pretty hard."

"Between Toby's epic failure and Florence thinking Veronica's hair was the board, it has been a pretty humorous segment of the party," Sylvester agreed. "I can go next."

He bent over so Florence could blindfold him, then she looked around the room. "We may need someone taller to spin him around," she said. If he wobbles he could take me right over with him and that would sure set my recovery back."

"I got it," Walter said, standing up and walking over to his brother. "Whirl around for me." Sylvester spun, Walter holding his arms out in case he lost his balance. "That's enough," he said with a chuckle after a few seconds. "Easy there." Sylvester stopped facing him, so Walter turned him around. "Go that way."

Sylvester lifted a foot, wobbled, then put it back down. "Don't kill yourself," Florence said. "It would be difficult for me to marry you that way."

"Difficult," Cabe commented. "Not impossible, just  _difficult_."

Sylvester moved forward, his free hand feeling for the cloth. He located the corner, hesitated a moment, then put his hand against the cloth, securing his placement.

Bullseye.

He jumped when he heard the applause, then pulled off the blindfold, staring incredulously. Then he whirled around, facing the group, and threw both his hands in the air.

* * *

"Are you sure that this is okay?" Veronica asked. "I can stay in a hotel. I thought that was what Florence and Walter had arranged…"

"Walter told me the plan was to always have you stay here, but they had a reservation on hold in case you and I started butting heads." Paige watched as Walter tugged on the frame of the sofa bed, popping it into place. Will was in a sleeping bag on the floor of Ralph's room – or at least, Paige assumed that's where he was. Pushing her worries about her son's recent confession out of her head, she studied Walter as he put the bed together. She had a good view of his backside with him bent in front of her like this. God damned medical restrictions.

Veronica gave a hesitant smile. "I hope our days of butting heads are over."

Paige smiled back. "I hope so. I think so." She put her hands on her mother's arm as Veronica hugged her from the side. "I'm so glad you were able to come here, Mom."

"Me, too. They were a bit worried when they contacted me, but it's been years, and I'm only here overnight, and Cabe is good at reading people, so if he'd noticed anyone hanging around, he would have acted. He said everything was just fine."

"Good."

"I hope I will be able to meet the little one," Veronica said, her voice getting quieter. "Somehow."

"I would like you to," Paige said. "I know Walter would like that, too. I can't say we can all make a family vacation out of it – that might be too obvious, but…" She smiled. "We'll make it happen, Mom."

* * *

Sylvester pulled the undershirt on and exited the bathroom, running a hand through his hair. Florence was standing in the kitchen area, the fingers of her left hand clenched around her thumb as she attempted to choke down her nightly medications. "I hate these damn things," she said with a cough, grabbing her glass of water and chugging it down. She shook her head and gave a little laugh. "Only a few more days of the horse pills, though."

"Good," Sylvester said. "Four more, right?"

"Yep." She took a step toward him, and he opened his arms, pulling her in. "I'm feeling really good, Sly."

"I'm glad." He rocked gently side to side. "You feel really good right here, too."

"Aww." She cuddled closer, and they stood quietly for a minute. Then she lifted her head, looking up at him, and rose up on her tiptoes. Sylvester lowered his head to kiss her.

"Sly, I want you," she whispered against his lips, sliding her good hand up to his neck. The same red flags that had popped up since she came home from the hospital were back, making him hesitate, making him fear hurting her. But she almost seemed back to normal now, at least to the point where she probably wasn't going to go back into the hospital for more than her routine appointments. And God, he missed her like this, her body pressed against his and her mouth loving his and her hands curling around the hair at the base of his scalp. "Sylvester, I'm okay, I promise." She slid her hand down, curling around his shirt. He moved his to her hips, pulling them more snugly against his and groaning quietly into her mouth. God, he missed this, kissing her without feeling like he needed to stop and letting his body react to the proximity of hers. He deepened their kiss, letting her remove his glasses and then move her hand to the bottom of his undershirt, which he was now wishing he hadn't even put on. "You know," Florence said, "when you won the pin game earlier? That was pretty hot."

"It was?"

"Mmm hmm." Her hand was running over his chest and she was sucking on his lower lip and Sylvester wasn't going to question it.

He wasn't sure how much later it was when Florence pulled away suddenly, reaching for the bottom of her own sweater to pull it up over her head, surprisingly smoothly considering the cast she still had on her arm. Sylvester rid himself of his undershirt, pulling her close again. His fingers ran over some of her grafted skin, and he felt her tense, but she didn't pull away. "You're so pretty," he said, wanting to assuage any fears she might still have about her attractiveness to him.

She pushed herself up and onto the table, whimpering quietly when he lowered his lips to her neck. "Oh God, Sly." She put her bad arm around him, and he felt the weight of her cast against his neck. "God, right there." He ran his tongue over the spot again, again, again, feeling her shudder and hearing her breathing get heavier. Supporting her weight with her good arm, Florence shifted her hips side to side to assist him as he stepped back and pulled off her pajama pants. He dropped them on the floor, wiggling out of his boxers before stepping between her knees.

"Be gentle," she said.

He kissed her forehead, a hand on her cheek. "Always."


	35. Chapter 35

Paige loaded the sleeping back into the washer and pressed start. That was something she could do. The pull out had broken when Veronica tried to put it back into the couch and it had taken her and Walter twenty solid minutes working together to get it folding up properly again. Paige had stood by watching, offering Walter water when he wiped his brow, but she was too big and too much on restriction to be of any useful assistance.

Walter had just left to take her mother and Will to the airport. "It was sure nice meeting you," the latter had told Paige, hugging her when they were all saying their goodbyes. "Ralph talks about you so much."

His words had touched Paige, but when the two teenagers had hugged goodbye for a moment or two longer than she'd expected, the niggling worry had come back.

"Ralph?" She asked now that they were alone. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure. I have a paper to write," he added. "But sure."

"Only will take a minute," she promised, easing into the nearest chair at the kitchen table. Ralph sat down across from her.

"So," she said, painfully aware of how formal and businesslike her posture and tone was but somehow unable to do anything about it, "you and Will seem to get along very well. I like him."

Ralph groaned, leaning forward and putting his head on the table. "Mom, do we have to do this?"

"What? I'm just saying he seems like a really good kid."

He lifted his head. "There's a 'but' in there, and we both know it."

Paiged sighed. "Okay, you're right. I have some concerns, and – "

"Is this because he's a boy?"

"No, Jesus, Ralph, I don't care that he's a boy. I  _am_  concerned about your recent restlessness, and how that coincides with meeting him and then coming back here." She coughed. "Ralph, I just don't want to see you chasing a boy – or a girl – across the country. Especially not at your age. I did that, Ralph, and it was a mistake. And you and I both know what can happen when a significant other takes advantage."

"Mom," Ralph said, clearly annoyed. "I'm not chasing anyone, okay? I don't even want to go to New Jersey. I don't know where I want to go. I just don't want to be  _here_. And that has nothing to do with Will, except that he also knows – but in a different way – what it feels like to seem trapped."

"Okay," Paige said. "I'm not saying I don't believe you, just please be careful. You haven't known him that long, and it can be tempting to make decisions that are influenced by someone you're excited about."

Ralph put his hand to his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. "You're not listening to me."

"I am, I just…" she cut herself off, clearing her throat. "I'm sorry, you talk."

" _Thank_  you." Ralph folded his arms. "Will and I aren't… I mean, we aren't  _nothing_  but we aren't anything either. We're just goofing off. We kissed once when I was in New Jersey and we did a little more than that at the shower, but he's fifteen and I'm almost eighteen, so we're not doing what you probably think we're doing and we're not going to. I feel this city is trying to swallow me up because of me and the situation with Brianna, not because of Will. If I didn't already sort of feel that way before I met him, I never would have."

Paige nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I'm just a mom. I worry. It's my job."

"Okay," Ralph said. "Is your shift over? Because I have homework."

She nodded. "Yeah, go and do your homework. Thank you for talking to me."

* * *

 

"Swindlers!" Sylvester swore he hadn't seen Florence's eyes flash like that since the day they played baseball against Homeland. "Fucking s _windlers!_ "

"Are you absolutely sure that…"

"Yes, I'm sure." She tapped her fingers angrily against her work table. "It's the first time I get to significantly contribute to a case since the explosion and this product may not even work the way its supposed to because the new company is sending me impure materials." She raised her eyebrows. "Do I question you when you say some action figure you buy isn't correct?"

"No, I just, I don't want you to get worked up. That can't be good for you. Your brain is still healing, and your lungs…"

She sighed. "I know. I know you're just trying to help." She brushed her hair back behind her ear. It was just starting to get back to normal length after the singed areas were cut away at the hospital. "I just have my buttons that you don't want to push."

"Nothing gets you fired up like suggesting you're pregnant or beating you at the Don't Say Baby game," he said with a laugh.

Florence bit her lip, then gave a short little laugh as she turned back to her notes. "Yep," she said, "that's me."

She seemed uncomfortable, and he couldn't tell if it was physical or mental. "You okay?"

She turned to face him. "I want to have a baby, Sylvester."

He blinked. "What?"

She stepped closer to him. "You and me. I would like us to procreate."

"Is…is this about the pin game?" She'd said that was hot.

She cleared her throat. "I mean. Well. I'd been having some thoughts before that."

"Really?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"I mean…I mean, I just…we'd never…we'd never talked about…that," he stammered. "And…Happy and Toby's kids…"

"They frustrate me. I care for them, but they frustrate me. And I'm sure my own child would frustrate me, too. But you and I frustrate each other sometimes. That doesn't mean we love each other less." She bit her lip again. "I've been feeling…feelings regarding Paige as her pregnancy has progressed. I've come to realize it is jealousy. I wasn't feeling it when Happy and Toby adopted Tad or had Ellie, but you and I were still early. Things are different now, and I don't know if you…I don't know how you feel about it, but…" she shrugged. "All I can think about is you fertilizing me."

Her word choice was so unexpected, and yet so totally her, that Sylvester couldn't help but laugh. Florence looked confused for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "Would you prefer if I say I would like you to make sweet love to me until we conceive a child through that love?"

"Actually, yes," Sylvester said, "because that also sounds hilarious coming from you."

She shook her head, but she was smiling. "I know I'm not recovered yet and it wouldn't be responsible at all right now," she said. "But…you know…"

"Yes," he said with a smile. "That's my answer."

She rose on her tip toes, and he slid his arms around her waist as they kissed. "So we're really gonna have a family, huh?" She asked, her voice soft, a smile on her face.

"Seems like it." He nuzzled her nose with his. "I can't wait to marry you. Because it's you, and because I've never had a wedding that, a wedding with notice." It wasn't that he regretted anything about his relationship with Megan, but since he  _was_  going to get married again, it was exciting to be able to do things a more usual way.

"Actually," Florence said, "I wanted to talk to you about that, too."

"You want to elope or something?" He asked, half joking, half hoping that wasn't what she meant.

Florence shook her head. "No. I just mean, we haven't discussed any plans yet, and I know we tentatively planned to get married next summer, but, like, why wait? Not eloping, but neither of us are big into extravagant parties and it's not like we'd have an extensive guest list. I know anyone I care to invite already lives in this area."

"Small wedding, closer to now?"

"I was thinking maybe this year, even."

This year. It was already October. Sylvester felt his heartbeat increase. "Oh yeah?"

Florence put her hand on his chest, over his heart; when he had his arms around her she always noticed those changes. "Maybe. Maybe early December, before the babies come and we get babysitting duties and you get thrown into potential child support hearings. Obviously, I want us both to be happy. If you want something big with all the frou – frou we can do that, too. I just know it's the stereotype for a woman to want all the bells and whistles and I don't want you to think I want to put off the wedding so we can have the money for all that. It's illogical to spend most of your savings on one night."

Sylvester chuckled. "I wouldn't have expected anything else from you, Lori. And I'm down. One hundred percent."

"December?"

"December." He kissed her forehead. "Let's get married, huh?"

"Let's get married." She grinned.

"One request," Sylvester said, holding up his hand with one finger extended. "Megan and I used standard internet stuff for everything we did because it was rushed. When we get married, I want us to write our own vows. Don't freak out," he said when her eyes widened. "They don't have to be complicated. I just want them to be us."

She nodded. "I can do that. Sure. Sure I can do that." She kissed him again. "I'm gonna go call that company and chew them out."

She limped away from him, fishing her phone out of her pocket – easier in the loose fitting ones she'd been wearing as to not agitate her burns – but she didn't dial the chemical company. Unlike their customer service line, she was speaking with the person she wanted to talk to within three rings. "Walter? Hey. Veronica and Will get sent off okay? Great. Question. You and Paige wrote your own vows, right? How do you do that well, exactly?"


	36. Chapter 36

"Bumpy."

"Yep," Paige said, running a finger through Ellie's hair. "That's right. And in just about two months, bumpy is gonna be baby." She was glad that her babysitting and wedding planning duties were happening at the condo. It was hot outside and she was glad she didn't have to leave the air conditioning all day.

"Baby, baby, baby, baby," Ellie said, lightly smacking Paige's belly.

"Yes. Be gentle." She took Ellie's hand and patted it carefully against her. "Like this."

"Bumpy baby."

"Bumpy has been her favorite word lately," Florence said, looking up from her laptop. "But in my case, she refers to my scars. Kids are so damn candid."

"No!" Ellie shouted, pointing toward Florence.

She raised her hands in mock surrender. "Easy, kid." She shook her head at Paige.

"I think she's trying to tell you that you said a cuss word," Paige explained. "Toby doesn't like when Happy swears in front of the kids."

"Damn shouldn't even count as a cuss word."

Ellie jumped to her feet, bouncing on the seat cushion and falling sideways against the back of the couch. "No!"

Florence rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Ellie looked at Paige with worry in her eyes. "Don't worry, sweetheart," Paige said, tugging her close. "Aunt Florence isn't going to say the bad word anymore."

"We should find out what else Toby doesn't like Happy saying, because I don't want the little creatures shouting while I'm struggling through these vows."

"You're working on your vows?" Paige asked. "I thought you were doing the guest list."

"I got the guest list," Florence said. "You want the guest list? You look at it every time you're doing payroll for Scorpion, plus Patty and Allie and the kids."

Paige was sorry she asked. She already knew Florence and Sylvester weren't close with either of their families, but she supposed she'd assumed there would be someone else they would want to invite.

"Don't have that look on your face," Florence said. "It's not a sore subject. You guys are the best family either of us could have asked for, anyway." She stared at her laptop, tapping a finger against her chin and slowly shaking her head.

"You're really stressing about the vows, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" She looked back and Paige, her eyebrows shooting up. Paige looked down at Ellie. The girl was fast asleep.  _Hope little Walter or Amber can pass out this easily._  "This is just like presentations, which I've prepared many times when applying for grants. But this is so much more pressure. This is quite possibly the most important thing I've ever had to prepare."

"Even though presentations have a success or failure in the mix?"

The corner of Florence's mouth turned up. "I swear, you and Walter are way more alike than I thought back when I first met you all. That's exactly what he said."

She smiled. "Really!"

"Yeah. Said Sylvester has already agreed to marry me, the vows aren't as important. Although I seem to remember he was…"

"Super stressing out over ours," Paige finished. "Yeah, we both took them very seriously. Though if you remember, his were so much better than mine."

"He disagrees. He called your vows the most beautiful prose to have ever been uttered."

Paige waved her hand. "They weren't all that special. They just carry a lot more meaning when you're hearing them from the person you love. And that's exactly why whatever you say will be perfect to Sylvester."

Florence was quiet, taking in what she said. "I guess I'm just…I feel like they need to be perfect even to the people listening who don't love me."

"If your guest list is the team, Patty, Allie, and Tad and Ellie, then I can guarantee you everyone listening loves you," Paige said. "Your wedding is about you and Sylvester. You don't have to be the perfectionist there." She shifted her weight, trying to get the baby to shift off her bladder. "Why don't you take a break? I swear you've been concentrating so hard all morning I can still see the line across your forehead. It's hot outside, but there has to be a book or movie or something to watch."

"Sylvester has been pestering me to watch Brooklyn Nine – Nine," Florence said thoughtfully, "but no, I'm honestly starting to get a headache. I'll go home and sleep."

"Nonsense," Paige said. "Get in the recliner and put your feet up. I'll find you a blanket."

"Paige, I couldn't…"

"Oh, yes you can," she said dismissively, waving a hand. She eased out from under Ellie, the girl melting into the couch, and walked down the hall, finding a blanket she had knitted – with a  _lot_  of trial and error – for Ralph when he had graduated to a Big Boy Bed. He slept in a bed now that didn't fit this blanket, but he still occasionally used it as an extra layer. Paige gathered it up and carried it back down the hall. Florence was sitting in the recliner, her head tipped back and an open pill bottle in her can. She swallowed, squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, and coughed. "Did you do that without water?" Paige asked incredulously.

"I am a woman of many talents," Florence croaked.

Paige rolled her eyes, dropping the blanket on the older woman's knees and heading to the kitchen to grab a small cup. She stuck it into the water dispenser in the fridge and carried it over to Florence. "Wash it down. The aftertaste on those things are ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," Florence said, shaking her head before taking the cup of water and taking it like a shot. "Thank you." She popped the footrest up and nestled into the cushions. "This chair is super comfortable."

"It is," Paige said. "Some nights when I'm not comfortable sleeping in the bed, I come out here, and I am out like a light in minutes."

"I can see why." Florence cocked her head. "So sleep has started to get rough?"

"Yeah," Paige said, sitting back down on the couch. "I'm just getting too big for it to be comfortable, plus this is the worst October heat wave I have ever seen, even for California."

"So you would say, best to be third trimester in the winter."

"Just avoid being nine months pregnant in June through August," Paige said with a laugh, which trailed off as her eyebrows shot up. "Are you and Sylvester trying?"

"No!" She said quickly. "I mean, not actively. I doubt my body would even cooperate right now since it's still healing the burns and my arm and all that. But we hope kids are in our future. Or at least one."

"Oh my gosh," Paige said, a grin coming over her face. "That is  _so_  exciting. I wasn't aware you guys were even thinking about it."

"Honestly," Florence said, a hand sneaking out from under the blanket to massage her forehead. "We weren't, or at least, I wasn't, and we hadn't discussed it, but then with you…" she blushed slightly. "Seeing you and Walter get ready for this one…"

"Really?" Paige was flattered. "We made you want one?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Believe me, I wasn't expecting it either."

Paige laughed, glancing at Ellie when the toddler stirred. She flipped onto her back and went still again except for the gentle rise and fall of her chest. "Well, for a point of reference, Ellie is an incredible sleeper. You'll be lucky to get that."

"Hopefully our kid will like me as much as Ellie does."

"She really did latch on to you, didn't she?"

Florence shook her head. "No idea why. I am not appealing to most people."

"You're little. I mean, most of us are taller than you. You're the closest in size to her mommy and both of you have that tough exterior. You probably remind her of Happy and that makes her comfortable with you." Paige reached over and grabbed a tissue, gently wiping some drool from the corner of Ellie's mouth. "Any baby you and Sylvester have will adore both of you."

"Does Walter worry about connecting with yours?" Florence asked. "I mean, that's not my business, I understand that, but…"

"He's expressed some concerns," Paige said. "I would rather you ask him if you want specifics, but overall, he knows he can relate to geniuses, and he related to a normal enough to marry one, so he's pretty sure he can navigate whatever balance of I.Q. and E.Q. this one has."

"That is a good point," Florence said. "And I suppose it's too early to worry about connecting with a child that doesn't even exist yet. But just as with the vows, I always stress about being perfect."

"Strive for that in your work, by all means," Paige said. "And in your personal life, too, absolutely make it a  _goal_. Just remember you're never going to attain that goal. We are imperfect by definition. As long as you're as close as you can get, you're doing fine."

Florence smiled. "Thank you." She yawned again.

"Power of the couch," Paige said. "Told ya."

With Florence and Ellie out, Paige tipped her head back against the top of the couch and closed her eyes. Sleep wasn't possible for her at the moment, but she was glad Walter and Sylvester had taken Tad out to watch some dancers at the park – an art form he was starting to take a real interest in – because she knew he would not be so easy to get to sleep. He rarely even napped anymore, and Paige had no energy to keep up with him. As active as she liked to be, today she couldn't think of anything she would rather be doing than relaxing on the couch with Ellie and Florence asleep in the same room.

Okay. It could be Walter and Ralph. But that was the  _only_  way it could be better. This wasn't half bad.

* * *

She was a year and a half old now, and yet Happy still couldn't get used to the idea of leaving Ellie for an entire day, even at a grown - up place like a museum. She'd been that way with Tad too, and now leaving him made her less anxious, so maybe she would slowly become used to leaving Ellie. Or maybe, while she didn't love one of her children more than the other, she found it stranger to be without Ellie because the girl grew inside her.

In reality – and the way that made her feel like less of a bad mother – it was probably just Ellie's age and the fact that Tad was naturally more outgoing.

"I told you," Toby said. "You're having a good time."

Of course she was having a good time. She was out with her husband, they didn't have to worry about crying or diapers or wiping snot or answering the question  _why_  every ten seconds. But it still felt weird to be out without them, even though it wasn't as if they had never done it before.

Maybe it was because Paige was so close to giving birth, or because Brianna had called Ralph five times the previous day while they were all in a meeting for Scorpion, or because Sylvester had told him that Florence had indicated that she wanted a family. Leaving her children with them just made Happy feel a weird mixture of guilty and territorial.

But she smiled, because she was having fun. "Yeah, I am," she said with a smile, reaching over and squeezing his hand.

"I know it's strange to go out not as a full family," he said. "But it's good to have time for you and me."

"It is," she agreed. "And I can do this – " she turned toward him, rose on her tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth – "without a chorus of voices yelling  _ew_."

"Something to be said for kid free days," Toby said, "even though by the end of the day we're both glad to see their faces."

Florence's apparent baby fever had left a question on Happy's mind, and she used his comment as a way to bridge the subject.  The adoption agency they'd used had loved them. "Have you ever thought about a third?"

Toby's eyes shot up so high they were hidden by his hat. "A…you think… _three kids_ …I…"

"No, no!" She said, holding a hand up. "No, I'm good. I don't want more. I just wanted to make sure…."

"Oh, thank God," he said, pulling her close. "Two is enough, two is perfect."

"Agreed, agreed," she said, hugging him back. "That's a relief."

He gave a little laugh. "You scared me for a second there."


	37. Chapter 37

When the entire team showed up at the garage only to have their client cancel, there was a time when they would have either all gone home or just would have worked on their own projects. But since the team's split and ultimate reunion, they had made more of an effort to spend time together outside of work – even though they were technically inside of work given this impromptu social day was taking place at the garage.

Toby stood at the front of the group – Cabe and Allie standing, the rest sitting in chairs – and marked six tallies on the chalk board under the column labeled  _Paige_. The category he had posed to the rest of the group was Celebrities With Unfortunate Names. They were using a buzzer at the center of the room to determine who got to answer first, but even at nearly eight months pregnant, Paige was the only one who could come up with anything for that category, so she had been able to power waddle up to the buzzer with no competition.

"Okay, Curtis," Sly said. "New category. Give us something that any of us could come up with."

Toby snapped his fingers. "Lines from the original  _Star Wars_  movie – that would be just  _A New Hope_ , not the entire original trilogy – that sound dirty out of context."

Cabe, Ralph, and Sylvester bolted toward the buzzer, Florence limping along just behind them. Cabe slammed his hand down first.

Toby lifted his eyebrows. "Yes, Cabe. You may answer."

" _Look at the size of that thing_."

"Oh dear," Allie said, putting a hand over her mouth to hide her laughter. Paige smirked and turned her head into Walter's shoulder.

Toby made a tally mark under the column labeled  _Cabe_. "Okay, keep going until you can't think of any others and then we'll move on."

"Uh…" Cabe tapped his foot. "That's honestly all I got."

Ralph darted around Cabe and sounded the buzzer.

"Ralph," Toby said, "you were second, you get to go next regardless."

"Oh." Ralph cleared his throat. " _Wedge, you can't do any more good back there_!" He glanced at Paige. "Sorry, Mom."

Paige put both hands up over her face. Walter patted her on the back.

"Nice," Toby said approvingly. "Any others?"

Ralph put his hands on his hips and thought a moment. " _Luke, at that speed, will you be able to pull out in time?_ "

It was Patty's turn to put a hand over her mouth.

"Oh!" Ralph raised his hand even though it was still his turn. " _Put that thing away before you get us all killed._ "

"And I think his turn is over, right Toby?" Paige asked, raising her eyebrows.

"That was all I could think of anyway," Ralph said, with a look on his face that suggested that was not all he could think of anyway.

"Damn it," Sylvester said. "They took all of mi…okay, well Han yells at Leia to  _get on top of it_ , does that count?"

"It does," Toby said, hurrying to keep up with the tally marks.

"Then there's that guy that says  _almost there_  like ten times and then screams."

"Wasn't he being killed?" Patty asked.

Sylvester folded his arms. "The rules are lines that sound dirty out of context. None of them are dirty  _in_  context."

"Do you have any others?" Florence asked. "Because if not, I want to take my turn."

"You can actually think of anything else?" He asked in surprise.

"Yes. You've missed some of the very best ones."

Sylvester made a grand gesture with his hand. "I throw it to you then, Ms. Tipton."

Florence rubbed her hands together. " _You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought._ "

"Oh, my…" the rest of the sentence was cut off as Happy giggled. Patty and Ralph turned toward each other and smirked. Paige kept her hand over her mouth, but her eyes squeezed shut. Walter glanced at her and grinned.

" _She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."_

Allie gasped, then burst into laughter and hung onto Cabe's arm.

" _Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough!_ "

For some reason,  _that_  was the one that got a smirk out of Toby. Patty and Paige wheezed in laughter.

Florence cleared her throat. " _All clear, kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!_ "

" _Stop_!" Paige gasped, a hand on her stomach while the other one wiped her eyes. "This keeps going and you're gonna make my water break."

"Okay, now you're just quoting your private life," Toby joked. He turned back to the chemist. "Thank you, Florence. You four have ensured none of us ever watch  _Star Wars_  the same way again."

"At least not the first movie," Cabe said.

"Second movie isn't much better," Happy said. "In the very first part the guy suggests that Luke may have come in the South Entrance."

"Guys," Walter said firmly, "Paige said stop making her laugh."

Happy sidled over to where Paige sat. "You more concerned you'll pee? By this point I was more concerned I would pee."

That just made Paige laugh more.

"I think Florence wins that round," Cabe said, lifting a hand toward her. Florence grinned and gave him a high five.

"Okay," Toby said. "Next round…replace a word in a movie title with the word  _Butt_."

Everyone jumped up and lunged for the buzzer.

* * *

Walter usually slept well when he was relaxed. The exception to that was when Paige wasn't – and tonight, she wasn't. He rolled over. She was in a reclined sitting position – the only one comfortable enough for sleep – with both hands folded over her belly. She'd been out of breath more lately, with the baby causing compression of her organs, including the lungs. "You okay, Love?"

"Yeah," she said. "The Braxtons are just really bad tonight."

"You're sure…you're sure they're not real?" He sat up, sliding a hand over her bump.

"Yeah," Paige replied. "They're irregular in both intensity and frequency and they're not painful – I mean, they  _are_  a pain in the ass, but in the figure of speech way."

"Well, at least we're close enough that if they were real you wouldn't have to be put on bed rest."

"Yeah." Paige put her hand over his. "The weight seems good and we're close enough lung development should be fine. Definitely in the homestretch."

Walter kissed her cheek. "I hate seeing you so uncomfortable."

"I hope not so much that you won't be in the delivery room with me," she said.

It was a joke, but Walter couldn't help but take it seriously. "I would be in there with you even during the time periods where men being absent was the norm," he said firmly.

She smiled at him in the dark. "I know you would." He heard her sigh. "I wish we could cuddle."

They still could – in the adapted way they had to do everything nowadays – but Walter knew what she meant. "Me, too."

"Soon, at least," she said. "And then you can hold the baby while I hold you."

"And you can hold the baby while I hold you."

She squeezed his hand. "That all sounds amazing."

"It does." He moved to kiss her cheek again, but she turned her head, her lips meeting his. He moved his hand up from her stomach to the side of her face. "I love you," he murmured against her mouth. "I love you so much."


	38. Chapter 38

Less than two weeks after Halloween, Ralph fled again.

Or rather, he asked if he could go with Patty to tour a university in Texas that she was considering for graduate school, and Paige agreed, only noticing after he left that he had packed much more than the three days' worth of clothes. She wanted to call Patty's mother and ask if the girl…woman,  _damn, Patty is twenty – one_ …had also overpacked, but she didn't really know Mrs. Logan that well, and, she realized a few moments later, Patty didn't live at home anymore anyway.

Two days later, Paige got a text.  _Another school planned. Washington State. Be gone a few extra days, love you, keep me posted on the wedding, okay?_

Well, he  _was_  almost eighteen. And saying no would just make him feel like she was trying to trap him here, which she desperately wished she could do, but that wouldn't be fair. Sometimes, she knew, loving someone meant letting them go.

She just never imagined that Ralph would be someone she would have to let go. Even back before she knew his gifts, before they truly connected and understood things about each other, there was that deep – rooted love that parents and children share that bonded them and kept them close when they had nothing else but each other. When she'd started a relationship with Walter he had been thrilled, and then devasted when they broke up. Their reunion had made him cry, and he'd been almost more excited about their wedding than either of the people actually getting married. His love for the new baby had made her heart soar. This family was everything she ever wanted. And now, if he left, if he turned eighteen and moved away...Paige pressed her lips together. She and Walter and their baby in the condo, with nothing of the family she had before Walter left. She didn't give one shit about Drew. But Ralph was a different story, and having Walter and his baby in the place she and Ralph had once lived together alone, without Ralph there at all, already felt wrong.

"When is he coming back now?" Walter asked.

"How the hell do I know?" she responded tiredly, grunting when one of the baby's feet hit her square in the ribs.

"Sorry."

"No, I'm just in a bad mood."

He leaned over the back of the couch and kissed the top of her head. "If it helps, I also wish we could tether him to the garage."

She smirked in spite of herself. "There's an image."

"I'm serious," he said. "I've missed so much of his life already."

The years before they met. The three months that he was recovering from his car accident and couldn't face any of them. The four months she'd kept the two of them apart because she and Walter were  _business rivals_. Maybe Walter wasn't in Ralph's DNA, but he was still every bit the boy's father as she was his mother. And at least she had had him in her life since the moment he existed. Walter had had to wait nine years for him.

"So, is this tethering going to be as soon as he gets back, or…?"

Walter smiled.

* * *

"I'm sorry," the front desk agent said. "We don't have any rooms with two beds at this hotel."

"How do you have a hotel with all singles?" Patty asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"We're oriented toward business travel with our location and negotiated rates with most of the clean technology companies in the area. Plus, rooms with two beds attract families and traveling sports teams, which usually ramps up the noise level. Keeping it all singles makes this location a more peaceful and pleasant stay for our businessmen and women."

Ralph and Patty looked at each other, and Ralph shrugged. "We could go back to the Marriott, I guess." They had been fairly expensive, but they  _were_  going to be here for five days, while Patty checked out two schools in the area.

"The highway robbers?" Patty shook her head. "Not on your life. We'll take it," she added, looking back at the agent. "I assume you don't take cash."

"No, we don't."

"That's fine." She slid her Visa across the counter.

"Thank you. Can I see your I.D. as well?"

"Right." Patty fumbled with her wallet.

"I'll just show mine," Ralph offered.

"You're not even eighteen," Patty said.

"You must be twenty – one to check in," the agent said, looking curiously at them as if suddenly doubting either of their legality.

"I'm twenty – one," Patty assured her, finally locating her drivers license and handing it over.

"Do you have a floor preference?"

They glanced at each other. "Not really," Ralph said.

"No," Patty replied at the same time. "Just not near any ice machines, please."

"No worries about that," she replied. "All the rooms have ice makers in them, so we actually don't have any actual ice machines."

"Nifty," Patty said. "I mean, you know, cool."

Ralph raised his eyebrows at her.

"Alright," the woman said, handing the I.D. and credit card back to Patty and firing up the key machine. "Breakfast is six – thirty to nine – thirty Monday through Friday and seven – thirty to eleven on weekends. Housekeeping is every other day unless otherwise requested, and there are vending machines next to the elevators on each floor. Any questions or concerns, I'm here twenty – four seven. Or rather," she stopped, clearing her throat and blushing slightly, " _I'm_  here from three to eleven each day, but  _someone_  is here twenty – four seven. We are  _staffed_  twenty – four seven."

"We got it," Ralph said as Patty giggled. "Thank you."

"Of course. Please come down anytime."

"She was pretty nice," Patty said as they headed toward the elevator.

"Pretty nice, or pretty pretty?" Ralph asked.

"I suppose she was pretty, too."

"You suppose. Okay." He pressed the button on the wall and the elevator doors opened instantly.

Patty looked at him oddly, but didn't say anything, just selected the button for the fourth floor.

The room wasn't bad. The bed was a king, so at least they wouldn't be awkwardly close together as they slept. Not that Ralph had any feelings for her anymore, but he wasn't as accustomed to platonically sharing a bed with someone as people who grew up playing sports or going to family reunions.

Of course, he wasn't a fan of sleeping next to someone he was romantically involved with either. Bri had been a cuddler to the extent of him not being able to sleep at all when it was warm in the room.

Patty threw her stuff down and gestured toward the bed. "You have a side?"

"Yeah, whatever is closest to the wall."

"Interesting. I'll have to have Toby psycho – analyze that when we get back to L.A."

"Nothing deep about it. I just want to be by the outlet."

She blinked. "Wait, so you literally do not have a side of the bed."

"Nope."

She held her hands up. "Damn, I'm suddenly terrified of you."

"I have a hard time believing Patty Logan is terrified of anyone."

"Assholes at school I can handle. But  _not having_  a side of the bed?" She shook her head. "That's a little much for me, Dineen."

Ralph chuckled, but the smile faded from his face when his phone buzzed and he saw who was calling. Sighing, he hit accept. "What do you want, Brianna?"

"Just checking up on you. I heard you were traveling a lot and wanted to check in."

"Uh huh. It's fine." He cleared his throat. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great. The baby is great, too. Not too long now."

"Yep."

"Are you going to be there when I give birth?"

Ralph rolled his eyes. "No, Bri. We've been over this."

"I know, but, like…"

"'I know but like'  _nothing_. Your mom will be there."

"No. She and my dad are spending the next six months in London for his stupid business trip. It's going to be me and Mira, if you aren't going to make it."

It wasn't a question of  _making it_. "Well good," he said, "you have Mira." He vaguely remembered who Mira was. She and Brianna had only started to get close around the time he had ended the relationship. "You won't be by yourself."

"You're really not going to be there? It is your baby, you know."

"You know, that's a great story, Bri. You should tell it again. To someone else. I am busy. Goodbye." He hung up and tossed the phone on the mattress. It bounced lightly on impact.

"Bri?" Patty asked, her voice sympathetic.

"What was your first clue?"

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "It's whatever."

"You know, I was texting Sly earlier, while you were taking your turn driving. He feels really good about the case he's building for you. You know, the one about not having to pay child support or do the visitation thing."

"Ah yes, that one," he said sarcastically, the corner of his mouth turning up to let Patty know he wasn't annoyed at  _her_.

They both jumped when the desk phone rang. Patty frowned, crossing the room and lifting the receiver. "Hell…o?" She furrowed her brow. "Leah who?  _Oh_. Duh. I didn't see a name tag when we checked in." She sank onto the bed. "Yeah, yeah the room is great. No, I can't think of anything." She smiled, kicking her feet out lazily as they hung in the air. "I sure appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, you too. Bye." She looked at Ralph. "That was the desk girl. She wanted to make sure everything was okay with the room." Ralph raised his eyebrows, and Patty frowned again. " _What_?"

"Just…calling…to make sure the room we  _just_  checked into is okay?"

Patty shrugged. "Some places do that."

"Places like  _this_?"

"She's just doing her job. It's a good job. I like…when people are thorough. Take pride in their work. You know."

Ralph climbed up on the bed and knelt next to her. "Patty, we're close friends, right?"

"Well," she said, "we're sleeping together tonight, so I would say so."

"So, uh, can I ask you a personal question?" He could see her defenses go up with a subtle change in her eyes. "Never mind," he said. "It's not important."

"No," she said. "No, go ahead. What?"

He tipped his head to the side, his tongue running along his lips. "Do you…like girls? As in…like them like them?" He hated that juvenile phrasing, but he couldn't think of another way to finish that sentence."

Patty looked fairly surprised. "What? No! I mean…I mean no. Shut up." Her cheeks and ears were turning pink. "Leah was  _not_  flirting."

"I didn't say she was flirting."

"I…you…" she pulled her knees up and rolled on her side away from Ralph, tucked into a ball. "I don't know."

"I mean, I don't either, but I'm  _pretty_  sure at least that she  _was_  flirting."

"Huh? No. I mean, I know she was." Patty was silent a moment, then peered back over her shoulder at Ralph. "I mean the question. Yours. The question you asked me. That's the answer. I don't know."

"Okay." He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here if you want to talk. I mean, I know I'm here…now, but I mean whenever. Any time."

"Thanks." Her voice was quiet. "I just don't know what…I don't know how to talk about something I'm not sure of."

Ralph laid down facing her back, both of them diagonally sideways on the bed, heads pointing to a corner away from the pillows. "Well, this isn't a presentation," he said. "This isn't an essay or an oral report. This is me. I read your rough drafts, remember."

She rolled over to face him. "I just don't…everyone, everything in society just assumes girls will grow up to like boys and boys will grow up to like girls and any deviation from that is  _weird_  or it's  _forced_  or it's  _unexpected_  because so many people can't fathom that straight is only the default in their minds. Most of these people get that there are options other than straight but they dig their heels in when it's someone they know, like it's something bad, like sure  _some_  people are like that but why does it have to be anyone in  _my_  life, ya yadda ya." She sighed. "I know I like guys. I don't know if I like girls, too. And I don't know  _how_  to know." She made a figure eight shape on the comforter with her nail.

"Well," Ralph said, " _as_  a straight guy…" he felt a bit weird saying that since he  _had_  made out with Will pretty extensively at the baby shower, but Will also identified as straight ("you can goof off with one person without it defining you, Ralph; identity is what you are, not what you do") and it wasn't like he'd ever thought about any  _other_  guy that way…maybe he was still figuring stuff out too. "As someone who is pretty sure he's straight, but who definitely likes girls," he said, starting again, "Leah is really pretty. If you think so too, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. You can appreciate someone's aesthetic value without being attracted to them."

"Yeah. I know." The only light came from the window and the sun had gone behind a cloud, dimming the room, but Ralph thought Patty was blushing, just slightly. "She  _is_  pretty,  _that_  I know for sure."


	39. Chapter 39

"Sylvester, I have an idea!" Florence limped across the floor and picked up a large book. "I will go to the library, check out every chemistry book, make corrections  _with_  a red pen, just like the high school teachers love, and then put them back, thereby improving the educational material of our young people, especially the underprivileged who need to take advantages of the free aspect of the library."

"Or," Sylvester said, " _or_ , you could go to bed and relax because physical therapy took a lot out of you today whether you want to admit it or not and the last thing you need right now is to take on another project when you've been working so hard on our cases."

"What on earth would I do in bed that's relaxing?" Florence asked.

"I don't know, but I've found that sleeping typically calms the ol' mind  _rrrright_  down." Sylvester shrugged. "Or you could watch  _Doctor Who_  or  _Brooklyn Nine – Nine_."

"I will work on your nerdy shows," Florence said. "But Sly, I have so much to do. I've been cleared for chem work again and yet somehow, I still can't do what I'd like to do because the stuff I need to work my magic has been backordered thanks to that conflict in Sri Lanka that we aren't allowed to resolve because the CEO doesn't trust us after the Brianna fiasco. And you can tell I'm upset because I used the phrase  _work my magic_  when chemistry is  _not_  magic, it is a scientific discipline that isn't mastered by waving a goddamn wand." She folded her arms. "I will go to bed on one condition."

Sylvester raised his eyebrows. "What is that?"

"That you come with me and we get started on the baby making thing."

He sighed. "Lori…"

"Too much?"

"A little too forward, yeah." He approached her, placing his hands on her arms and leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Please just go relax."

"I don't want to relax, I want to be productive."

"Florence." He cocked his head. "Have you thought about what might happen if you end up needing to be on limited activity like Paige?"

"I already am on limited activity."

"And you hate it. What if we get pregnant and you need bed rest?"

She folded her arms. "At least I would be constantly working. On cooking the baby," she clarified when he took on a confused look.

"I feel like cooking isn't the best way to describe it," he said.

"Gestating, then."

He smiled, kissing her forehead again. "You're so strange."

"Isn't that exactly why you love me?" She quipped.

"Guilty as charged." He took her hands. "Sweetheart, I just worry that you're overworking. You're still getting better."

"And I can handle it," she said. "I just want to have something to throw my passion into."

"That's why you're stressing so much about our small rooftop wedding?"

She nodded. "If I can't be passionate about work, at least I can be passionate about you."

He pulled her into his arms, and she sighed contentedly. "I have a compromise."

"Hmm, you do?"

"Yep." He rocked them gently back and forth. "You go lay down, and you can call people from bed about catering and music and stuff like that."

"Music." She lifted her head. "We have to pick our song."

"Our dance song."

She nodded. "Walter and Paige had  _From This Moment On_. Happy and Toby had…uh…"

" _I'm Yours_."

"Right. In my defense, I wasn't there for that." She licked her lips. "What are we going to have? Have you thought about that? Because you – we – should think about that." She smiled at him, closing her eyes when he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.  _When You Kiss Me_  by Shania Twain seemed pretty good right about then.

"I have my playlist," Sylvester reminded her when they broke apart, her heart rate and the swelled feeling in her lips telling her they'd kissed for more than just a moment.

"FliTunes," she said. "Yes, I know."

"Oh, don't act like you don't find the name fun and clever." He smiled. "Those are the songs I feel fit us best. So if it was my decision, I would go with something on there. Would it make you feel better if I let you pick, or if I did?"

"I think we should choose together," she said. "But oh no. What if we disagree?"

"Hmm. You're right. The last time we disagreed, it was about whether or not we liked each other and that resulted in two teams."

She rolled her eyes. "So based on how that turned out, we wait for near tragedy and then pick the same song?"

"Let's skip the terrifying circumstances this time, shall we?"

"Agreed."

"That's good. Because the last time we disagreed…" Sylvester smirked as she swatted him, and then grabbed her around the waist, keeping her close. He kissed her neck, nudging hair out of the way with his nose, and she ran a hand along his scalp. He moved his lips back to hers, kissing her deeply, tenderly, in the way that made her knees go weak and her heart feel warm.

"I can't wait to marry you," she whispered against his mouth.

"Me either," he said in a low voice she found incredibly attractive. "And maybe, if you go rest a little bit, I might be convinced later that you're in good enough shape for me to show you just how much."

"Oh yeah?" She raised her eyebrows. "In that case, I'd best be off to start resting."

* * *

"Hey, so, more vow help?"

"Florence?"

Walter sounded genuinely confused, which amused her. "How many people are coming to you for vow help, exactly?"

"Sylvester sent out an e – mail blast saying you were resting and not to disturb you."

"Sylvester worries too much. And I'm in bed, anyway. So I am resting. In a way. Technically." She rolled onto her side. "Did I interrupt anything?"

"No. No. Paige and Cabe are out at dinner and I just wrapped up a Skype session with Ralph."

"Oh, how is he?"

"Fine. Patty really likes this school they're at."

"Oh, good."

"Yes. Although he added an 'if you know what I mean' to the end of that summary, and I must confess I'm not entirely sure what he meant by that."

"Huh, interesting. So listen, Paige almost couldn't say  _I do,_  she was crying so much. How did you do that? I would like to emulate that."

"You're trying to make the love of your life cry?"

"Well, it is good crying, is it not? I've been told that that is a thing."

"Okay, look," Walter said. "A year before Paige and I got together, that was when I realized that I was in love with her. She was starting a relationship with someone else at the time and they were going off on a weekend trip to Tahoe with tickets that I gave them."

Florence frowned. "Why did…actually, never mind, I don't want to know." If she believed in miracles, she would probably be convinced that it took one to actually get Walter and Paige together.

"I got in my car and drove like mad to follow them to Tahoe so I could tell her. And I called Toby – he wasn't in a great head space because he had just proposed to Happy and she said she couldn't marry him because she was still married to me, even though she didn't tell him I was the one she was married to, so he hadn't had the best night but I still knew he could give good advice…"

Sometimes Florence wondered how the hell the team split up over her and Walter going to a lecture after getting through all this other stuff she kept finding out about. "What does this have to do with your vows? Since this stalker – ish Tahoe trip doesn't appear to be Happy and Toby's wedding reception I take it you following Paige all that way didn't go over the way you wanted."

"No, it didn't," Walter said. "But when I asked Toby for advice, he told me to speak from the heart. He asked if I could do that, and I said absolutely not. But I learned how. And I realized the night before the wedding that the best way to write my vows would be to just act like I was talking to her. And so I wrote what I wanted to say. And I'm not going to say what I ended up using was perfect, but…"

"Oh no. They were perfect," Florence said. "They were, as I think the kids would say these days,  _vow goals_. And I just want mine to be as good as yours were."

"I'm sure they will be. You and I are so much alike. You'll probably end up using that same thought process."

"That doesn't make me feel better," she said. "The fact that we're so similar makes it seem like it will be very obvious if my vows are worse than yours."

"I don't really think anyone considers it a competition."

"No," she said, "but you know me. I like to measure up. And you being so much like me…"

"I've become the standard. Or the baseline." She could almost hear Walter shrug. "I can see that." He sighed. "Look, just think about him. And you. And how you make each other feel. And why marrying him means this much to you. What you say will fall into place."

"You're quoting what Toby said to you when you were freaking out about your vows, aren't you?"

"Well, I do have an eidetic memory."

"That's the s an ability to vividly recall  _images_ ," Florence said. "How does that have anything to do with this?"

"He texted me. I may still have the message. I could forward it to you…"

She gave a little laugh. "No, Walter, that won't be necessary. But uh…thank you. Really."

She hung up the phone and lay on her side, mindlessly picking at a loose stitch in the bedding.  _Sylvester, when I first met you I was pissed as Hell…_

She gave a little laugh. That would certainly be an interesting way to start things off.

Although maybe it was appropriate. After all, that  _was_  how they had begun.

Angry and wanting nothing to do with each other. Somehow that had turned into a love more powerful than any force Florence knew of in the entire scientific realm.

Maybe miracles  _were_  real.

Or maybe she was just getting way too sappy for her own good.


	40. Chapter 40

Sylvester was confident December would be a good month. A wedding, a baby…and a child support hearing wouldn't happen until after the new year. He had decidedly mixed feelings about how that might go.

"Are you  _sure_?" Paige asked. She wasn't due for five weeks, but her belly was too large to allow her to bend over his shoulder and read the screen like she would have liked.

"Yes," Sylvester said. "There is no Romeo and Juliet law in California, and the age of consent is eighteen, meaning that yes, Ralph and Briana could both be charged with misdemeanors even though they're the same age and they both state they never did anything that wasn't consensual. That's just the laws. But the baby wasn't conceived in California, and technically no one can prove they ever had sex in this state. They can't be charged for anything that happened when we were on the job because it was legal there – Columbia's age of consent is fourteen – like how a lot of kids who live near the Canadian border go there to drink at nineteen. They may live there, but they weren't breaking any laws for where they were."

"Okay. But what about the child support?"

"That's where it does get tricky," Sylvester admitted. "It really sucks for this specific situation, because Ralph was in an abusive relationship. But in the overwhelming majority of cases, guys who knock a girl up – sorry," he added when Paige tensed at the impersonal word choice, "and then don't want to be involved are just being irresponsible. Bri chose to keep the baby, yes, but they both had a hand in creating it, and end of the day she's the one who has to go through the physical and mental challenges that come with gestating a baby and then giving birth. That can be downright traumatic for some people. If I try to find some sort of loophole to get Ralph off the hook, and I'm certain that I could, but if I do…"

"Then there would be precedent for any guy to stealth a girl or lie about fertility or anything like that and then use that same loophole to get out of supporting her. And she may be someone who doesn't have any other options."

"Exactly. Paige, I love Ralph, and I will do my absolute best to help him, but…I have to be very careful about how I argue his case. I don't want to put any future women in danger by giving legitimate sleazebags like Drrr…." He trailed off.

"Like Drew," Paige said. "I haven't been in a relationship with him for fifteen years. You can say it."

"By giving legitimate sleazebags like Drew an out when they decide they can't be bothered to be a father."

"Shit." Paige put a hand over her eyes. "You're right. I didn't even think about that."

"So what I think we're going to have to do," he said. "Is just show that we gave her a lot of money, and under false pretenses, and establish the timeline so the judge sees that Ralph dumped Brianna  _because_  of that and  _before_  she found out she was pregnant."

Paige nodded. "Run that by Ralph. He gets home tomorrow and I would like to have a nice, uneventful Thanksgiving. But Friday or Saturday, let him know everything. But I think he'll be fine with that. He's always cared more about the greater good than about himself."

* * *

"Who were you on the phone with?" Ralph asked, running a towel over his hair one more time. It was a little longer than it had been at any point that he could remember, and water droplets were still dripping down his neck. Now he understood why his mother never got dressed immediately out of the shower. He thought he should invest in a robe.

Because apparently that was less work than just  _getting his hair cut_.

"The desk," Patty said. "I was thanking them for the late checkout."

Ralph raised an eyebrow.

"It's called being  _polite,_  Ralphstopher."

"I am forbidding you from calling me that ever again. Who is working right now?"

"Leah is on the noon to five today, because the person working seven to three is the sales manager and she has a meeting, and the three to eleven is being weaned off of training." Her cheeks turned slightly pink, seemingly realizing she'd revealed she knew a  _lot_  about the hotel's scheduling. "We were just chatting yesterday morning and she was telling me about the schedule. They say they're really flexible, she can go to class and work without conflict."

"She goes to the university?"

"Yeah. She's a junior." Patty got up off the bed and bent over the mini fridge, grabbing the last of the fruit drinks they'd bought. She sipped from the straw, either avoiding Ralph's eyes or legitimately finding the beige paint on the wall more interesting.

"That's cool."

"Ralph?" Patty's eyes darted to him.

He cocked his head, the look in her eyes indescribable. "Yeah?"

"I like Leah," she said. "I like Leah so much."

Ralph nodded. Patty still looked like she was going to either scream or laugh or cry and he had no idea how to react when he didn't know what he would be reacting to. "Okay. Good."

"But…" she put her hands on her head and turned in a circle. "It's not just Leah, Ralph. Last month I got distracted looking at a girl's legs and almost walked into a lamp post. I thought I was just interested in the skirt. At the Texas orientation a guest speaker had a photo of Alessia Cara and Thomas Doherty on the same PowerPoint slide and I couldn't decide who to look at. And now Leah." She put her hands up over her face, half stepping, half staggering backward against the wall. Then she peeked at Ralph through her fingers. "I like guys and girls. I'm bisexual, Ralph."

"Come here," he said, taking a step toward her and opening his arms. Patty straightened up and reached for him, and they hugged each other tightly. Ralph had gotten taller than her at some point in the past year or so, and he slowly twisted side to side, rocking her gently. "I love you. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," she said, sounding happy, but then she pulled back and looked at him with something like uncertainty in her eyes. "I don't know what my parents will say."

"You don't have to tell them yet," Ralph said. "You don't have to tell them anything until you're ready."

She shook her head slowly. "Aren't I supposed to feel liberated or something? Feel like I have more figured out now than I did yesterday? Or at least feel…something? Something I can name?"

"You're not  _supposed_  to feel anything. Not anything in particular anyway. I don't think." Ralph bit his lip. "I don't know, though. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Patty took his face in her hands. "Honestly. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you."

He gave her a timid smile. "Okay. But you'll let me know if I can do anything else, right?"

She moved her hands back down to hug him again. "Of course. Of course."

"My parents will be there for you, too. If yours are…are more difficult. I mean, I've never talked to them about…anything like this but, like, they were more concerned about Will influencing me to leave the state than his gender. And they always seem super cool about stuff. I know they would give you any amount of love and support you needed."

"I know." Patty shrugged, stepping back. "It's just different when it's your parents, I guess. It means more."

Ralph nodded. Wanting to know your parents were okay with you was certainly something he understood. "Your parents have always seemed pretty cool."

"Yeah. And it's not like I have to tell them now. I can figure things out first. Later. After the wedding."

"Yeah. Speaking of, we should probably get going. We need to be at the airport in a couple hours."

Patty grinned. "I cannot believe they're getting married. I mean, I  _can_ , but like…it's actually happening. In less than a month. They are going to be married  _before you turn eighteen._ "

"Just by one day."

"I know, but what I mean is they just got engaged a few months ago. Your birthday is so close and this is actually closer."

Ralph gave a nod. "It does sound crazy when you say it like that."


	41. Chapter 41

Florence and Sylvester were getting married on the roof of the garage, with the reception at the other part of the roof of the garage. Neither of them were concerned with flamboyance or setting the days leading up apart from their usual routine, but the others, to their great credit, did their best to try and make them special, from a big group dinner Thursday night of Wedding Week to getting some rooms at a nearby hotel for Friday, to make it seem like they were traveling for some big hullabaloo out of the state or the country.

"You really do not have to stay here," Florence said, sitting cross legged on the bed and studying the TV channel listing when Paige came out of the bathroom with a hand on her back. "I know the mattress at your place is better for you right now."

"No," Paige said. "It's totally fine. Plus, Happy and Toby have to pay attention to the kids and  _somebody_  has to make sure that you and Sly aren't breaking the tradition of spending the night before the wedding apart.

Florence rolled her eyes. "We're already going to do it tomorrow, we don't want to do it tonight." A possible perk of being in a couple that had a lower than average sex drive.

"You aren't supposed to sleep in the same bed, period," Paige said. "Trust me, the last thing I want to do right now is have sex and I still sleep best when I'm next to my husband."

Florence was concerned. "Are you guys fighting?"

"Huh? No, I mean…" Paige gestured to her belly. "Back pain, swelled ankles, constant need to pee. None of that really gets the libido pumping."

"True." Florence watched as Paige sank heavily into the chair. "Not too much longer. Couple weeks."

"Less than that, I'm sure," Paige said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

She sounded really sure. Florence cocked her head. "Is…something going on?"

Paige waved her hand dismissively. "I had a contraction about four hours ago and another one…" she looked at the time on the microwave oven. "About fifty minutes ago. They may go away or they may start regulating, but as of right now it's nothing to be concerned about. I haven't dropped yet, and I may not, but I did with Ralph and so I don't think it will be hospital time for a couple of days yet." She laughed at the look on the chemist's face. "Florence, it's fine. I'm not going to ruin your wedding day."

"Ralph's birthday is the next day."

"Yeah. That's crossed my mind. Honestly, I'm just glad he hasn't heard from Bri. First babies usually take way longer than subsequent ones. If we find out she's in labor and these haven't regulated, I'll just do some stairs or something to expedite the processs."

Florence had forgotten how badly Paige did not want a grandchild older than a child, whether Ralph had to be in the kid's life or not. "Oh, I'm sure. I mean, what are the odds of both of you going early, anyway?"

Paige nodded. "Exactly. It'll be fine." She patted her bump. "This weekend is all about you and Sylvester. I take it your vows are done?"

"Yep," she said with a smile.

"Feel good about them, huh?"

"Oh yeah," she said. "It was like…they just clicked after a while. All of a sudden after all of that worrying, I suddenly knew exactly what do say."

"Good. Ugh, I'm so excited for you guys." Paige shook her head. "You both deserve this, so much."

"Thank you." Florence felt her heart fluttering in her chest. "I'm really lucky."

"So is Sylvester," Paige said pointedly.

"I'm glad we're friends, Paige," she said. "I know…I know I've said it before and I know it's been years since anything has been weird between us. But I'm still…I still want you to know."

Paige smiled. "I am, too, girlie," she said. "I would get up and hug you, but I'm not entirely sure I'll ever be getting out of this chair, much less right now."

"Well, I'm going to want to sleep," she said, crawling off the bed. "So we need to get you up and out of that thing now so you aren't  _actually_  stuck there all night." She stood in front of the younger woman and held out her hands. Paige gripped her wrists and staggered to her feet, pitching forward slightly. Florence steadied her, the momentum forcing her back a few steps herself. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Just peachy."

Paige smiled. "Thank you." She moved for the other bed, planting her hands firmly on the mattress as she heaved herself up on it. Her body jerked. "Oh, oh God."

Florence was on high alert. "Contraction."

"No." Paige shifted from her side to her back. "Terrible cramp. Actual cramp. Actual, normal cramp, non baby related cramp, but sucks extra."

"Here." Florence grabbed the extra pillows from her bed and piled them up at the head of Paige's. "Prop yourself up."

"Thanks." Paige shifted into position, something that was almost comical to watch, although Florence didn't dare say that out loud.  _This could be you in a year,_  she reminded herself. As uncomfortable as Paige clearly was, the thought still excited her.

"Please wake me up if your contractions start really happening," she said. "I don't want you to be dealing with it alone."

"Oh, it'll be fine," Paige said, folding both hands over her belly. "Honestly. Nothing is going to happen for a little bit yet. And Walter is right down the hall."

* * *

"Paige is right down the hall," Walter said. "I spend almost every night next to her. This is your last night before you become a married man again, and I want to spend it with you."

"That sounds really upsettingly creepy out of context," Sylvester said. "But I appreciate it. All of this stuff you guys have done for us. It really amps up the excitement. Draws it out. It's kinda exhilarating."

He hadn't gotten to do this the last time. He knew Megan would be thrilled if she knew he got the full experience of a wedding lead – up now. But… "if you say she's had contractions…"

"Just two. Over a period of hours. When they start changing she will tell me, but this could go on for days and days."

"You're still worried about her." He could tell. Walter was only good at faking emotion to a certain extent.

He shrugged. "Of course I am. But she's just two rooms away, and if there  _is_  anything happening, she will tell me. We're not going to steal you and Florence's thunder unless we  _really_  have to."

It was a joke and an honest truth all rolled into one.

Sylvester flopped down on his bed, arms spread, staring up at the ceiling. This was right below the room that he and Florence had reserved for the following night. "I can't believe it's almost here."

Walter smiled. "I'm glad you get to do this properly this time. And Meg would be so happy for you."

"I know," he said. "If I believed in that stuff – which I don't – I would say I thought she sent Florence to me. But I don't believe in that stuff."

"I don't know," Walter said.

Sylvester sat up. "Did you just not completely dismiss a religious idea?"

"Oh, no," Walter said, waving his hand. "That stuff is ridiculous. What I'm saying is, Megan helped you become the person that Florence fell for. She wanted to make you better for you, not just for her, and the you that you are now is the you that Florence wants to spend the rest of her life with." He shrugged. "That's all I'm saying."

Sylvester nodded slowly. "That does make sense."

Walter's phone rang, and Sly could tell by the look on his face who it was before the older man raised the phone to his ear and said. "Hey, Love."

Sylvester loved the softness in his brother's expression and voice whenever he was talking to her. He thought if he loved Florence a tenth as much as Walter loved Paige, they would be golden. And he did. He loved Florence with everything he had.

"That sounds good," Walter was saying in a low voice. Have you had any more contractions? Just the two then…yeah, I agree…Sunday, Monday…is she relaxing? Good…much better than us…" he gave a little chuckle. "Yes. You too. Good night." He hung up the phone and looked at Sylvester with a smile. "Your bride curled up and fell asleep with  _Beat Bobby Flay_  playing in the background. Typical Friday night, from what I understand."

Sylvester chuckled. "Yeah, just a little bit."

"Paige was so nervous the night before our wedding. Do you remember? Everyone was expecting me to be the basket case."

And Walter had been oddly confident and calm, while Paige had thrown up twice the night before and ended up wandering around outside, resulting in drenched clothes and a shaky bride when there had been a sudden, rare downpour and she'd been stuck outside the building. That led to a night in Happy and Toby's room, the doctor keeping watch to make sure Paige didn't stumble down the aisle with a fever the following afternoon. "You guys were cute," he said. "It was that endearing kind of nervous Paige had. If you don't count the vomiting. She was just so excited to marry you and to actually start her forever that she ended up kinda psyching herself out."

"Well, now that she's been through it, she will be the perfect person to help Florence should she have some sort of meltdown tonight. But it seems she may sleep through the night."

"I hope so," Sylvester said. "We have a long day tomorrow, and we're both a little cranky when we're tired."


	42. Chapter 42

" _Going to the cha – pel and we're gonna get ma – a – arried_!"

Florence ran the comb through her hair again, still convinced there had to be a tangle somewhere. Paige's singing was reminding her that they  _did_  need to hurry up and finish getting ready, not having a venue to be in and out of by a specific time didn't mean they could take all day. But what if there  _was_  still a knot in her hair? What if she was just missing it.

There was a rapping at the door. "Here comes the officiant!" Paige sang, to the tune of  _Here Comes The Bride_. "Are you decent?"

"I don't know," Florence said before she realized what Paige meant. "Oh. Yes. Come in."

Paige squeezed into the bathroom, wearing the deep blue dress she'd carefully carried into the hotel draped over her belly the previous night. It was an off – shoulder maternity dress that fell halfway between her knees and her ankles, and it flattered her. Everything flattered her. "You're gonna have to stop stalling and get into your dress soon."

"I'm not stalling," Florence said, "I'm making sure everything is perfect."

Paige put her hands on her hips. "Florence, you don't have  _so_  much hair that you can comb it for twenty – five minutes and still think it's a mess. It's time to put the dress on so we can go. I'll go grab it. In, in a second."

Florence looked at Paige in the mirror and turned when she saw her leaning against the wall with a hand on her back. She stepped closer and put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Uh – huh," she said slowly, letting out a long breath. "Can I get the time?"

Florence reached for her phone. "Quarter til."

"Quarter til," she repeated, nodding. Florence watched, wondering if there was anything she should do, but then Paige straightened up, smoothing her dress. "Okay."

"Did you have any overnight?"

"Just one that I know of, but with that mattress not being the best for sleep I'm sure any others would have woken me up. They're definitely not Braxtons anymore, but it's not like baby is in any hurry."

Florence thought about the information she had been given. If that had been Paige's fourth contraction since…so she was averaging about one every four and a half hours. Florence didn't know much about pregnancy or childbirth, but she wasn't even sure this would count as latent labor.  _Relax_ , she thought.  _She will be fine today. This isn't going to affect the wedding._

"Don't worry about it affecting the wedding or anything," Paige said, waving her hand. "Trust me. I doubt I'll be in active labor within twenty – four hours, much less in the next five or six. Everything is going to go as planned. Now, let me get your dress."

Florence ran a comb through her hair one more time. Just to be sure.

When she stepped into the dress, Paige did up the back, both of them laughing at the awkward ways they had to stand so Paige could help effectively. Florence had been in the dress once before – at the resale store, a local place that sold used wedding dresses. It was in their budget and, as she'd said to Sylvester, he had already been married once, so it made sense that she marry him in a dress that had also been there, done that. But putting it on now felt like an entirely different experience. "Wow," she said, studying herself in the mirror. "I look almost pretty."

"Cut that negative qualifier," Paige said, hugging her from the side. "You are pretty. You're beautiful. Sylvester is going to lose it when he sees you."

"He sees me every day," Florence said, but she could feel more color coming into her cheeks.

"Not like this, he doesn't," Paige said. "Not in an outfit picked out specifically to stand in front of him and vow to spend the rest of your lives together. That gets to people, you know."

"So I've heard." She smiled. "Okay. Let's go."

Paige grinned. "You're getting married."

"I'm getting married." She grinned, putting her hands up to her cheeks. "I'm getting married."

* * *

The look on Florence's face when she saw how the garage had been decorated – even the ground floor, even the stairs – by Allie and Cabe almost matched the expression on Sylvester's when he saw it identically.

When Florence teared up, that was how the couple differed. Sylvester had literally cried and hugged Walter so hard and for so long he now had wrinkles on his suit. When Paige saw and raised an eyebrow at him, he shrugged, gestured to Florence and then toward the stairs. Paige got it, nodding and mouthing  _ah_  at him. "So," she said, putting a hand on Florence's arm. "Do you like it?"

"I love it. You guys. You guys didn't have to do this, you didn't have to do any of this."

Cabe stepped close to her. "We didn't have to," he said. "Don't think that we did because we thought we were supposed to. We love you, and we love Sly."

Florence smiled at him. Cabe pulled her into a hug. "Let's get you married, huh?"

"Allie and Ralph and Patty are upstairs with Sylvester," Walter said. So are Happy and the kids. So we're ready to go."

"What about Toby?" Paige asked.

"He's upstairs, I said that."

"You said Happy and the…okay, yeah, that basically covers it," she said with a laugh.

Walter chuckled, bumping his hip lightly against hers. Allie began explaining what they had planned, going over it all one more time. Florence was nodding, smiling, looking a bit nervous, but not as much as Walter would have expected. Of course, Paige had been the nervous one at their wedding, and Paige wasn't the one of them that Florence was the most like.

"She looks beautiful," Paige said softly, wrapping her arm around Walter's and resting her head on his shoulder.

"She does."

"Can I ask you a question without you thinking I'm insecure or jealous about stuff that happened years ago?"

Walter raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

Paige straightened up and looked at him. "Does her dress look anything like the one she was wearing in your – "

"No."

"No?"

Walter shook his head. "No."

Paige nodded. "Okay." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's stupid. I just…wanted to know."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You still feeling okay?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Good." He smiled at her. "Because we gotta go upstairs now. You have a wedding to officiate."

"Marrying our friends, celebrating my son's shift into adulthood, and transferring a baby from uterus to real world." Paige shook her head dramatically. "You all expect so much from me."

* * *

The little, persistent twist in Florence's stomach that prevented her from truthfully saying she wasn't nervous at all got slightly less little and slightly more persistent when they reached the roof and she saw how beautifully everything was set up. It was real. It was all really happening. Was she ready? Were they, as a couple, ready? They had only  _just_  gotten engaged, she wasn't even recovered yet from the explosion, and it wasn't as if anyone had come from far away…

She had said to Paige once, when she was struggling through her physical therapy, that a lady working on her shoulder had told her she'd been through childbirth five times and would rather do it again than have to deal with her rotator cuff injury. Florence couldn't believe anyone would say that. Paige had told her that as painful and exhausting as giving birth was, coming out on the other side of it with your baby in your arms made it all not seem so bad. An injured shoulder  _also_  hurt and was just annoying, with no joy to make the pain worth it.

Florence supposed once she became a mother she would understand. But she thought she might understand a little bit already, because when she saw Sylvester standing next to Paige, looking at her like she was the answer to every math problem he had ever tried to solve, her nerves went away completely.

"Hey," he said as she approached him. They didn't have an aisle. There weren't enough people for that, and Florence liked this better, their friends around them in a circle, and she and him meeting in the middle.

"Hey," she said back.

"Funny seeing you here," he joked.

"You guys ready?" Paige asked. They nodded, and she cleared her throat. "Welcome, everyone. The script I looked up online told me to begin by saying  _friends, family, and loved ones_ , which makes absolutely no sense because it implies your loved ones are not your friends and family. And when I pointed this out to Walter he laughed and said we had officially been together long enough for us to rub off on each other."

Cabe and Happy chuckled. Noticing her mother's amusement, Ellie opened her mouth and screamed "HA HA HA."

"We're all here together, today, because Sylvester Dodd and Florence Tipton have made the decision to be married. It's been a long journey here to this moment, but these two have been so incredibly happy for so long that the beginnings are almost forgotten. They shouldn't be. The way they started makes their journey here all the more incredible."

Sylvester and Florence had been watching Paige, but they turned to each other, smiling.

"They have asked that we share in their special day and give them our blessing and well wishes that they have a long and happy union together," Paige went on. "This is a wedding ceremony, yes, but a ceremony cannot create a marriage. Marriage is about support, and comfort, and sharing in each other's joy and in each other's sorrows. It is about give and take and compromise and choosing to love someone, actively, relentlessly. It's about learning what's important and making sure those values are what always matter. What we are here for today is to witness the start of that journey." Paige looked at Sylvester. "Will you, Sylvester, take this woman to be your wedded wife?"

Sylvester smiled at Paige, transferring the smile to Florence. "Yes. I will."

"And will you, Florence, take this man to be your wedded husband?"

The butterflies were back. This time they made her feel good. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I will."

Paige smiled. "Everyone in attendance. When people are in love, they do not withdraw away from everyone else. Their love for each other and for us is a constant presence in our lives, just as our love for them and each other is a constant presence in theirs. Will we all stand by them and support them as the navigate this complicated, beautiful journey together?"

"We will," everyone said in relative unison, except for Ellie, who shouted "HA HA HA."

"Ellie, can it," Happy hissed.

"Yeah, Ellie," Tad said, poking her in the ribs. " _Can_  it."

"We are now at the point in the ceremony," Paige said, glancing over at the Quintis kids briefly, "where you will say your vows to one another. Sylvester, you have expressed a desire to go first."

Florence knew that he had wanted to lead here. She didn't mind. He was either doing it because of his own anxiety over his vows or to hopefully put her at ease about saying hers.

"Florence," Sylvester said, pushing his glasses farther up on his nose before reaching for both of her hands and squeezing them. "There isn't anything you and I can't get through as long as we do it together. Of that, I'm completely confident. When I met you I wasn't looking for love. I had been in it before, and I didn't think I would ever feel it again. But you're my counterpart. My partner – in – crime, sometimes literally." There was a faint laugh from the others. "I promise you…" Sylvester paused for a stabilizing breath. "I promise you to love you, and to choose to keep loving you, through sickness and in health."

He paused again. The whole room knew how seriously he took that part. "It's okay," she whispered at the same time Paige reached over and patted him gently on the shoulder. He took in a deep breath. "I promise to always be honest with you, to share in your happiness and your sorrow. And I promise to try every day to make you feel as happy as I am. And to keep you away from situations where there might be bombs."

Those in attendance chuckled. Allie made the sign of the cross, pulling Cabe closer to her by the arm. He patted her hand affectionately.

"I promise to truly  _be_  your husband, Lori," Sylvester concluded, sliding the ring on her finger. "Every second of every day."

It was her turn. As confident as she was in what she wanted to say, Florence still felt nervous again. She closed her eyes, steadying her mind, then cleared her throat. "Sylvester," she began. "Sly. I think it goes without saying that when I first laid eyes on you, a husband was the last thing on my mind. I didn't think I was loveable then. It's funny how the best things happen when you're least expecting it…no, not funny. Wonderful. You're absolutely everything I need, and more importantly, everything I could ever want. As your wife, I promise to encourage your passions. All the things that make you the one of a kind person I fell in love with. I promise to be your partner in all things, your equal, to pick you up when you struggle and to allow myself to be picked up when it's my turn. I promise to be honest with you. To nurture your beautiful soul. To remain your biggest fan." Florence drew in a long breath, fiddling with his ring, finally slipping it on. "And in the spirit of being honest, I must tell you something. I know you just said you wanted to keep me safe, but I have to say that there is a bomb. At this wedding."

The team frantically glanced at each other as Sylvester's eyes widened and took on a look of confusion. "A…what did you say?"

Florence paused, glad no one was truly panicking – it certainly wouldn't be realistic of her to be this calm about it, considering what she'd survived. She'd hoped that her calm tone would indicate that nothing was actually wrong. Taking a breath before delivering her punchline she hid her smirk – barely. "Yes. Your butt. Your butt's the bomb. There will be no survivors."

He stared at her incredulously, a look of surprise and wonder coming over his face. "Oh my God. You watched  _Brooklyn Nine – Nine_."

She grinned. "I did."

Both of them giggling, Sylvester leaned in, Florence starting to close her eyes as she rose on her tiptoes. Then they froze, lips inches apart, and turned in unison to look at Paige.

A big grin on her face, she bounced slightly in excitement, clapping her hands together. "BythepowervestedinmebythestateofCaliforniaInowpronounceyoumarried!" She bounced again. "Kiss each other! Kiss each other!"

Florence jumped up, wrapping her arms around Sylvester's neck, her feet not reaching the ground but knowing his arms would encircle her waist, holding her in place as their lips met for the first time as husband and wife.


	43. Chapter 43

"Allie really outdid herself again."

Walter nodded in agreement. "One of these days we will have to let her know about the glorious option that is catering. Her hands are starting to get arthritic."

"I think as long as she can hold stuff, she will want to cook for our occasion," Paige said. "At least in part. She legitimately loves it."

"And that's good for the rest of us," Walter said, popping some food into his mouth.

Paige raised her eyebrows. "You're eating the tater tots she made for Tad and Ellie."

"And they are delicious."

Paige rolled her eyes and smiled, but Walter saw how she shifted her weight and how the tips of her fingers turned whiter as the pressed against the plate. "You okay?"

"Absolutely," she said immediately, sounding slightly breathless. "They're really not that bad, Walter. Just too much to ignore." She reached for his hand. "Here, you can probably feel it, a little."

She put his hand against her belly, and Walter was about to open his mouth and ask what he was supposed to feel when it relaxed, as if she'd been tightening her abdominals when he had initially touched her. "Wow. How long are they lasting?"

"Half a minute, maybe?" She guessed, shrugging. "I'm not timing the length of them yet since they're still so far apart. But this one was only eighty – nine minutes after the last one, so my guess is they won't go away."

"So this is the real thing, huh?"

"Yep." She smiled. "So take advantage of me still being in this happy state and not sweating and cursing."

"Tomorrow, you think?"

"Probably. Although I hope not." She was still holding his hand, and she squeezed it gently. "I want Ralph's birthday to just be Ralph's birthday."

"Everyone!"

Cabe's voice caused Walter and Paige to turn. The older man was standing at the front of the makeshift dance floor. Satisfied that everyone had turned their attention, Cabe smiled. "It's now time for the newlyweds to have their first dance as a married couple."

Paige set down her plate, putting her head on Walter's shoulder. He tipped his head to the side to rest it on hers.

_We've only just begun to live._

_White lace and promises._

_A kiss for luck and we're on our way._

Their height difference meant Florence had to look up to see him clearly, and Sylvester's head was tipped down so they made eye contact as they moved together on the floor. It gave the spectators a clearer view of their expressions, Walter thought, than they had at his and Paige's wedding, where they had danced with their faces so close their noses nearly touched. In a way, that might have made Florence and Sylvester's moment even less private, as everyone could see the looks that passed between them – but then, neither of them looked like they were even capable of noticing anything but each other.

_And when the evening comes, we smile._

_So much of life ahead; we'll find a place where there's room to grow._

_And yes, we've just begun._

Sylvester's lips moved, whatever he said causing a corner of his mouth to turn up, and Florence gave a laugh.

_Sharing horizons that are new to us._

_Watching the signs along the way._

_Talking it over, just the two of us._

_Working together day to day._

"Can I pet the baby?"

Ellie's voice caused both Walter and Paige to jump, and then Paige chuckled. "Gently, Ellie." She leaned forward slightly, carefully, and Ellie reached up and moved her hand back and forth on Paige's dress. The girl smiled. "When is it going to come out?"

"Soon," Paige said. "Are you excited?"

"Yes. I won't be the youn'dest."

"That's very true," Paige said. "You won't be the youngest anymore."

"Ellie." Happy's voice just preceded her. "Let's leave Aunt Paige and Uncle Walter alone, shall we?"

"She's okay, Happy," Paige said.

"Wifey." Toby joined them. "Song is over. Let's go boogey down."

"Never say boogey down again."

Toby saluted. "As you wish, madam. Shall we dance?"

Happy raised her eyebrows at Ellie, who darted across the roof back to the blanket they had spread, where Tad sat reading a pop – up book. Then she smiled. "I think we shall."

Cabe was speaking to Allie, and she jumped up and grabbed his hand, dragging him, looking equal parts surprised and delighted, onto the floor. Florence and Sylvester came off of it, the latter removing a shoe and shaking it out. "Whew," he said. "That was an annoyance."

"Was that there during the ceremony?" Florence asked.

"I don't know. I wasn't dancing during the ceremony."

"You would think you would still feel it."

"I'm sorry," Sylvester joked. "I thought you were aware that you weren't marrying the protagonist from  _The Princess and the Pea_."

"Paige," Florence said after rolling her eyes. "The ceremony was beautiful. I cannot thank you enough."

"It was," Sylvester agreed, coming up next to Paige and hugging her from the side. "So, what's the best food here?"

"Of course he asks the pregnant lady," Paige said with a grin.

Walter smiled, watching them a moment, and then turned to Florence. "You wanna dance?" He asked.

"Sure."

"Alright, well." Walter offered his hand, and Florence took it, letting him lead her a few steps out onto the floor. "You look very nice in your dress," he said as they fell into place.

"Thank you." She cocked her head. "I know you are supposed to return a compliment in situations like this, but you are not wearing a dress. Your wife looks beautiful in hers, though."

Walter chuckled, his eyes trailing over to where Paige stood talking to Sylvester. "Yes. She does."

"Is she still feeling okay?"

Walter nodded, looking back at Florence. "Yeah, she's fine."

"She did a great job with the ceremony," Florence said. "I never would have been able to come up with words like that." She shook her head. "Sylvester, too. He picked our song, his vows were perfect…" Sighing, Florence couldn't help the small smile to come over her face. "They're both so incredible."

"I agree," Walter said. "People like us both finding people like them, well, I know we don't believe in luck, we certainly overcame the odds, at least."

"It's crazy, isn't it?" Florence asked, cocking her head as the song changed. When she identified it, she continued. "We're people who on paper should be…just impossible to love. And Paige and Sylvester are people with enough love and warmth to be able to be with anyone in the world. And  _they chose us_." With each emphasized word, Florence tapped Walter on the chest. "Seven point four billion people in the world and they want to spend forever with us."

"Would you like to do the math on that probability sometime?"

"I would." Florence smiled again. "The easiest people to love ended up with the most difficult…you know, Walter?"

"Hmm."

"Seven point four billion people in the world, and we have the best two."

He smiled warmly. "I agree."

"It's pretty incredible, isn't it? If I believed in luck, I would say we were lucky." Florence cocked her head. "Maybe I should start believing in it."

Walter shrugged. "Paige told me once that she liked that I didn't believe in luck. My self esteem has been so horrible at times, and to believe in luck would be to say that I possibly am with her because of luck, and not of my own merit. If I don't believe in luck, I have to understand that we're together because we love each other and want to be, not because it was finally my turn for something to happen."

Florence cocked her head. "I…I really love that."

They smiled at each other. Then they looked in unison – Walter to his right and Florence to her left – when someone cleared their throat. It was Sylvester. "I'm sorry," he said. "This is another song on our playlist. Mind if I cut in?"

Florence and Walter looked at each other again, and she smiled, squeezing his hand lightly before stepping away and reaching out for her husband. He took her hand and spun her in close.

_There you were, and there I was, and here we are._

_I'll tell you what, true love, it happens like that._

_Out of the blue sky, lost in her blue eyes._

_Yeah, when it happens like that,_

_Nothing to lose turns right into you_

_Doing all you can do just to keep her around._

"Hey, genius," Paige said softly, joining Walter where he still stood, watching the others. He smiled and pulled her to him, her back against his chest, their four hands on her belly.

_Until the moon goes down, and you're back at your house._

_One thing leads to another, you're loving each other._

_One look and you never look back._

* * *

Over at the other side of the roof, Ralph and Patty stood, leaning on their elbows, their drinks resting on the ledge beside them.

"Still nothing from the Wicked Witch of the West?"

"Nope," Ralph said. "But that's a good sign. Means unless something crazy happens, my brother or sister will come first."

"Do you care which is born first?" Patty asked, "or is this just your mother's thing?"

"I don't care," Ralph said. "I mean, yeah, it would be weird if hers was born first, but I mainly just hope she doesn't go yet because my mom has been stressing about that this entire pregnancy." He bit his lip. "Sylvester talked to me. He said he wasn't going to until after the wedding but felt like he needed me to know where his head was at."

"Yeah? What's he say?"

Ralph saw Patty's face change as he explained why Sylvester couldn't use a loophole he had found to argue that Ralph shouldn't have to help Bri support the baby. "Oh my God. He's…"

"He's right," Ralph finished, nodding. "He is. So we will just have to hope the judge rules that the fact she was using us as a personal bank account means we've already done enough. Although he or she could just argue that we were suckers and that has no bearing on the actual case."

"Ugh." Patty shook her head.

"The judge would be right, though," Ralph said. "I  _was_  a sucker. I loved her, and everyone just accepted her as family because I loved her, and because that's how this team has always operated. We ride or die for each other. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone infiltrated that for personal gain." He shook his head. "God, I was so stupid."

"You weren't stupid. You were in love."

"Which is  _stupid_."

Patty rolled her eyes. "Don't let this turn you into someone who won't take that chance again. If your mom hadn't kept believing after what your father did, everyone on this roof would be a lot less happy than they are right now."


	44. Chapter 44

For some reason, having a new spouse made everything funnier, even while sober, and Florence was glad that the sentiment seemed to be shared and Sylvester understood that it was nothing but giddiness that had her laughing so hard she snorted – twice – when he couldn't get the hotel room door open until the sixth try. "Clearly," he said as they stumbled into the room, "I do not open doors much. I'll have to get my gentlemanly skills refreshed."

"You do okay," Florence said. "Most of the time, that is," she added teasingly.

Sylvester removed his tie and swatted at her with it. She grinned, stepping toward him. "Today was perfect, I think."

He slid his arms around her. "I agree. My favorite part was when Paige said we were married."

"Chills. Actual chills."

Florence was still grinning when Sylvester kissed her, but she quickly melted into it, sliding a hand up around the back of his neck.  _This is my husband_ , she thought.

"I know I'm not always, you know, up for things at the same time you are," he said against her lips. "But trust me, I am one hundred percent here and ready to get crazy tonight, because it's our wedding night, dammit."

She raised an eyebrow flirtatiously. "Oh yeah? We talking, like, ripping each other's clothes off, or what?"

Sylvester looked baffled. "No," he said. "These are nice clothes. We're talking taking them off nicely and laying them over a chair but after that brace yourself because it is going to get  _crazy_."

She giggled. She couldn't help it. "I love you so much."

"Right back at you, Tipton," he said.

She cocked her head. "You've forgotten so quickly."

"Right," he said, nodding, his grin growing even wider. "Tipton – Dodd."

"Tipton – Dodd," she murmured, pressing her lips back against his. "God, I love you so much. I said that already, didn't I?"

"Lori," he said, kissing her forehead, "I will  _never_  tire of hearing you say that."

"Mmm, good," she said. "Because that's about all I can think to say right now."

He gently turned them around and took a step so her back was against the wall, kissing her more deeply, both of them drawing in quick gasps of air each brief time their lips separated. She lifted on her tiptoes, and he wrapped his arms around her as she lifted up, wrapping her legs around his waist. Their kisses grew more aggressive, more intense, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned quietly into his mouth as her hips ground against his, feeling his grip on her falter as his knees went weak for the briefest of instances. "I love you, Lori," he mumbled, pushing her firmly against the wall, his hips flexing forward into hers.

She tore her lips from his, and they looked at each other, both breathing hard, both pink in the cheeks. "Sly," she said, "I want to fold our clothes over a chair."

He nodded. "Me too."

She drew in a breath and let it out. This was good, this was all so good, but… "I mean  _now_."

He nodded again, taking a step back, to let her down. "Yes," he said. "Now sounds great."

* * *

Paige couldn't sleep.

She was back in her own bed, back next to Walter, but her back hurt, and sometime around midnight she went from a drowsy state that was very near sleep to being wide awake, curling her fingers around the corner of one of her pillows and cringing her way through a contraction that was much stronger than any of the ones she'd been having over the past two days.

_No. You can't do this today. Not on Ralph's birthday._

Maybe, she thought at first, maybe this one just took her by surprise because she had been about to fall asleep. Maybe it wasn't  _really_  time just yet.

She rolled onto her other side, facing Walter. Bless him, he had been so sweet the previous evening, even more so than usual, kissing her at every opportunity and rubbing her back as they chatted on the couch upon getting home from the wedding. Neither of them slept well when they were apart and he'd clearly been exhausted, and she was so glad that he was able to sleep now even if she couldn't. But she was bored, and even though she did not want the baby born on her son's eighteenth birthday, part of her wished that it would just so she would have an excuse to wake Walter up. She scooted closer to him, glad it was cool in the house and she could enjoy the heat radiating between their bodies, and closed her eyes again.

She was just about to drift off when her stomach tightened and hardened again, an ache appearing in her lower back at the same time. "Shit," she gasped, rolling awkwardly back over, facing away from Walter now and clenching her jaw, grunting quietly, not wanting to wake him up. She felt for her phone, her coordination off just enough to send it clattering to the floor. When the pain let up, she sat up, locating the phone with her feet and maneuvering it between her toes so she could awkwardly reach down and around her stomach to grab it. It had only been about twenty minutes since the last contraction.

" _Uhhh_ ," she said in frustration, pressing her fingers against the bridge of her nose. "Not on Ralph's birthday," she whispered.

She got up, padding down the hall to the bathroom, suddenly needing to pee and relieved that the contractions hadn't made her lose control of her bladder. She remained on the toilet, pulling her shirt up and placing her palm flat on her bump. The baby moved, and she thought she could identify what part was against her hand. "Good," she said. If she was correct, and she was feeling the baby's rear end, that mean he or she was head down, the ideal position. She had been in active labor – at the hospital, exhausted and desperate – for over twenty hours. Subsequent pregnancies usually didn't take as long, but at least with Ralph she had gone from latent to active labor within a couple of hours. She'd been having these sporadic contractions for two days already, and she hoped that this meant she was already dilating.

That thought gave her an idea. Paige bunched up some toilet paper, ran it under the sink, and then settled back onto the toilet to clean herself more thoroughly than toilet paper usually did. She dropped the lump of paper into the toilet and reached around her belly, pushing a finger inside herself and locating her cervix. She'd been taught how to do this before, but it had been, well just about eighteen years. Any fear that she may have forgotten what she was feeling for disappeared. Yes, she was dilating nicely. She was probably… _feels like about four centimeters._

Paige hauled herself up again, washing her hands, and she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a slightly different color now, with a stray gray hair that she plucked when she thought of it but for someone with her hair color, they weren't that noticeable. She was a bit heavier, the lines on her face more noticeable, than when she was nineteen. But in many ways, she was the same pregnant woman as she was when she was preparing to welcome Ralph into the world, with full, achy, leaky breasts, stretch marks, and circles under her eyes that were the inevitable result of lack of sleep.

But the biggest difference was definitely in how happy she was. Eighteen years ago, she thought that she had created a family. Today, she  _knew_  she had. Paige smiled to herself as she headed out into the living room, pausing to straighten up the pillows on the couch.

"Oh," Paige groaned, shifting her feet shoulder width apart and bending at the waist, one hand under her belly and the other pressed against the small of her back. She closed her eyes, drawing air in and out, focusing on keeping it steady. "Ugh." She winced, forcing air out through her nose.  _Take it easy._  She counted to five as she inhaled, counting again as she let the air out. Then it was over. She straightened up and shook her head. "Yep," she said, making large circles with her index finger, "you're on your way."

"Here you go, Mom," Ralph said, appearing from the hallway rolling a large ball. She had bought it years ago for exercises, but it had been what felt like an actual life saver during this pregnancy. "Sit on this. If you have any pressure in your pelvis this can help that. Is that weird to say to your mother?"

Paige chuckled. "Thank you, Ralph. And happy birthday, son." She reached her arm out, and he smiled, moving as close to her as possible. "I love you, baby. I hope I can still call you that even though you're a big adult now."

"We're in private," he said, giving her a wink. "You can call me anything you want."

She rolled the ball closer to the coffee table and lowered herself onto it. "That does feel better, thank you."

"Of course. Do you want to play Mancala?"

Paige cocked her head. "Do  _you_  want to play Mancala?"

Ralph slid the game out from the lower shelf on the coffee table. "You mean, would I rather be out gambling or buying a gun now that I'm a big adult?"

"Please do not gamble or buy a gun."

Ralph smiled. "So do you want to play Mancala?"

"Very much."

"Walter still asleep?" Ralph asked, glancing up at her periodically as he set up the game.

"Yeah. I don't see the point of waking him up this early. Stuff isn't really happening yet."

Ralph cocked his head. "Seemed like things were really moving along to me."

He must have seen her hunched over near the sofa. "They're fifteen or so minutes apart," she said. "The hospital won't even admit me until we cut a good ten minutes off of that."

"Yikes." Ralph said. He gestured. "You can go first."

Paige was grateful. So, so grateful for Ralph. It was his birthday, his eighteenth birthday at that, and here he was at one in the morning, trading turns at one of the oldest board games in existence with her to help her pass the time now that things had progressed enough that sleeping wasn't possible.

One of her seeds landed in a pod of Ralph's that held at least ten. "A ha!" she said triumphantly. "Mancala!"

"Mom." Ralph smirked and rolled his eyes. "You don't have to  _say_  Mancala every time you capture."

"I know," she said. "It just makes it more fun."

"If you say so, Mama. If you say so."


	45. Chapter 45

Ralph did not want to leave his mother, but when Cabe showed up saying he wanted to take him out for a "birthday bite," he gladly accepted. Paige's contractions weren't much longer or closer together than they were earlier in the morning – too mild to be admitted and too strong to get much rest. Walter had finally convinced her to get into the tub and relax, and sitting in the living room staring at whatever was playing on the television and waiting for Will or Patty to text him back was just making him anxious.

He rapped on the bathroom door. "Cabe wants to take me to the diner."

"Okay," he heard from within. The voice was Paige's. "Have a good time!"

"You doing okay?"

"Yep."

"I will keep you posted," Walter said.

"Thanks." He shoved his wallet in his pocket and took the stairs two at a time.

He realized when in Cabe's car that when he said  _the diner_  they probably thought either Kovelsky's or Nemo's, but the establishment Cabe had meant was an old seafood place closer to the ocean. Ralph vaguely remembered telling him how into seafood he had become while in Maine. Cabe was a man who sometimes didn't seem to remember little details, but he always did, right down to buying Allie flowers to celebrate her graduation from college – something that had happened more than ten years before and well prior to the two of them meeting, but it was still later in life than most people got their degrees and Allie was proud of it.

Ralph ordered fish and chips. West coast fish and chips. They wouldn't be as good, but he had a craving and these would certainly be good enough.

"So what was the big thing today?" Cabe asked. "You buy a gun or gamble?"

"Nah," Ralph said. "I promised my mom."

Cabe laughed. "Right, right. Just because of your mom."

"Yep. You know me. Guns and financial risk."

"Yes, please," Cabe said when the waiter came up with a pitcher of water and gestured to his half empty glass. "Thank you." He turned back to Ralph. "I assume you haven't been doing much today."

"Just Mancala, Connect Four, the midseason finale of Grey's Anatomy, and more Go Fish than I think I've played in my life up until this point."

"Grey's Anatomy is  _still_  on the air?"

Ralph shrugged. "I don't know why, but yes."

"I think that show started the year you were born."

"Nothing should go beyond ten seasons."

Cabe laughed. "Some of them cop shows are still pretty good. Don't roll your eyes at me, you may be an adult now but I'm still your elder."

"Sorry." Ralph sipped his drink. "Thank you for taking me out. It was very nice of you."

"Of course," he said. "I may not have any biological grandkids, but you're as good of a grandson as a man can get."

"Well, I don't know about that," Ralph said.

"Don't sell yourself short, kid." Cabe gestured to Ralph with his glass. "You're a guy anyone would be proud to call their own."

"I guess." Ralph's phone buzzed, and he reached for it, then stopped himself, glancing at Cabe.

"Get your phone," he said, "I know you're waiting to hear from a few people."

It was Patty – the only female person texting him who wasn't currently nine months pregnant. He sent her a quick reply, adding  _afk, with Cabe_  to the end. "I keep thinking she is going to call."

"Brianna? You think she will tell you when she goes into labor?"

"Not positive. Probably. But she will tell me when she has it for sure."

"Still thinking you're her motive for keeping it?"

Ralph hadn't remembered telling Cabe that, but if he hadn't, he didn't really care if his mother or Walter had. "I hate it so much. I know she doesn't want that baby. She's using it – the pregnancy – to try and get back together with me."

"Maybe when she sees the baby she will feel differently," Cabe said. "Maybe when  _you_  see the baby you will feel differently. But Ralph?" He raised his eyebrows. "It's okay if you don't."

Ralph bit his lip. "I just really do not think I will, Cabe. And I know not everyone wants to be parents and not everyone has this crazy strong bond with their offspring but after what Drew did it's…I just keep revisiting that. You said he wasn't a real man because he abandoned his family."

"I know I always talk about manning up," Cabe said. "But I also know that if someone treated Happy or Florence or your mom the way Brianna has treated you, I would tell them to run fast and run far. You deserve the same happiness that they do, and that they've found." He paused, letting Ralph process what he had said. "Drew abandoned people who he loved and who loved him because of the thrill of potential fame. You got out of an unhealthy relationship. There is a difference there."

Ralph shifted in his seat. "Now that I look back on it," he said quietly, "even the good times weren't really good, with her. Except right at the beginning." Although now that he thought about it, wasn't a classic sign of an abuser someone who came on super strong and claimed the person was the only one for them within weeks? Wasn't  _pushing for commitment_  one of the things they warn about?

Of course, he missed or ignored  _constantly asking where you are, pressure for intimacy, unpredictable mood swings_  and  _tries to keep you from your friends_  so he supposed questioning why he didn't understand her overzealousness was a red flag wasn't the biggest issue here.

"You learned, you got strong, you got out. A lot of people can't say that about themselves," Cabe said.

"It's harder for some people to leave," Ralph said.

"Agreed. But you can still be proud of yourself for managing it."

"I really wasn't expecting this from you," Ralph said. "I hope that doesn't come off badly."

"Nah," Cabe said. "I'm all about being a stand – up guy and doing the right thing, but I've also seen lots of abusers in my day. And I always want abuse victims to find their way out. Abusers often use children as a weapon, actually. Allie has a friend who works with foster families and a few of those kids are essentially orphans  _because_  one of the parents is in jail for murdering the other. Brianna is using a fairly common tactic according to this Marie. And I guess she's been doing this a while."

"That's terrible," Ralph said.

"Yeah."

"I had been considering suggesting to her that she put the baby up for adoption," Ralph said. "But there are hundreds of thousands of kids waiting to find a family in this country alone. But it's either that or someone who isn't cut out to be a mother and I'm pretty sure doesn't even want to be."

"It's a rough hand to be dealt," Cabe agreed. "But that kid will have those strong Dineen genes. And you may not like guns, Ralph, but your family is all armed with that toughness. And that will win most fights all on it's own."

* * *

"I just want to sleep," Paige said, her head resting on the small ridge where the tub met the wall. "Why can't they just stop for like two hours so I can sleep? Or just move forward and get this over with?" She sighed. "Second babies are supposed to be faster."

"Well, you aren't in active labor yet," Walter said. "That period will likely be shorter than it was with Ra…you were just venting," he said, realizing she didn't need an explanation. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." She closed her eyes. Her left hand hung lazily over the tub, fingers wrapped through his. "You're doing great."

He cocked his head. " _I'm_ doing great?"

"Yeah." She nodded, keeping her eyes closed.

"I don't understand the joke."

Paige gave a little laugh, squeezing his hand. "Not a joke, Love." She shifted her weight. "I know you still have difficulty sometimes with understanding if you're saying or doing the right things. And later I'm not going to be in a super great mood and might snap at you or whatever, and I just want you to know that's just going to be the unimaginable pain talking. Normal me loves you to death and wants you to know that everything you're doing right now is exactly what I need."

Walter lifted her hand and kissed it. He didn't think he was doing anything in particular.

"Oh, shit," Paige mumbled, shifting. "Here comes another one."

With his free hand, Walter touched the start button on his stopwatch app. Paige pressed her lips together, making a low sound, then she groaned and sat partway up, rolling onto her side and reaching over with her free arm to wrap over the edge of the tub. "Just breathe, Love," he said, kissing the top of her head as it was close to his. "Just breathe, Love."

"God," Paige groaned, making it sound like multiple syllables. She took a couple more labored breaths and then her body relaxed, leaving her gasping for a few seconds before she rolled carefully over onto her back again, resuming her resting position.

"Exactly as long as last time," Walter said as he glanced at the stopwatch. "And it looks like the last two were only about a minute closer together than the two before. How did it feel?"

"I think it was more intense," she said. "Like, the first one where, like…" she paused for breath, "like it seemed like it was never going to stop. The others haven't been quite like that."

"Progress, then," Walter said, "right? We can call it progress?"

"I'll take it," Paige said, a corner of her mouth turning up. "Do you want to feel my cervix again?"

Walter had  _not_  been squeamish about it earlier. As Paige had said, it wasn't like he hadn't had fingers up there before. But although her water hadn't broken and although he  _was_  hygienic, he still felt anxious about potentially causing an issue with either Paige or the baby. He knew she was checking herself periodically, but "I'm just irrationally worried, so I'll pass."

"Okay. I think I'm making progress in that regard, but I honestly can't tell that well."

"We could call Toby and have him check, but I really feel like both of us would rather he not."

Paige gave a little laugh. "I feel like in this case  _all_  of us would rather he not."


	46. Chapter 46

"Are you going to eat those fries, or can I help you at least make a dent in them?"

Ralph pushed the basket to the center of the table. Patty grinned, grabbing a few by their ends and dipping them into her soda. "That is gross."

"Doesn't your mom dip them in a milkshake?"

"That isn't gross."

"Yes it is." She shoved the fries into her mouth, picking up her napkin and dapping at a corner. "So I suppose you're wondering why I asked you to get lunch with me."

Ralph blinked. "I assumed it was because we're friends and you wanted to distract me from my mother's cervical dilation?"

"Nah. I'm not that nice." She smirked. "But seriously, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Bad?" Ralph asked hesitantly.

"No. Just serious." She ran her tongue over her upper lip and leaned forward, resting her folded hands on the table. "I'm accepting that college in Washington. I made the final decision last night. Why don't you come?"

"Like, permanently?"

Patty shifted so she was sitting criss – cross. "It could be fun. School, new people, away from everything here…"

Ralph smiled. "I love how you list school as one of the fun aspects."

"I'm not wrong, am I?"

"No," he said, "you're not wrong. Except for gen ed. Gen ed is lame."

"Agreed. But I'm going to be doing my master's. No gen ed there, just lots of internships and field studies."

"And Leah."

Patty's eyes widened. "Shhh."

"Literally no one is listening to us. Plus, Leah could be a relative or a childhood best friend. No one is gonna know anything based off of what I said."

"True. But still. Shhh."

Ralph laughed. "Sure, sure."

"We could even live together. You and me, I mean. There are two – bedroom apartments right next to campus, and they aren't student housing so even if you just got a job somewhere…" She was smiling. "Ralph, it could be so much fun."

It could be. If things were just a little different, he would be just as excited as she appeared to be. But… "I just don't know if I can leave."

"Of course you can," Patty said. "You can go anywhere that you want to go." She cocked her head. "What is Brianna doing now?"

"She's not doing anything." Well, other than being a constant source of irritation and anxiety in his life. "It would completely kill my mother."

"She has to know that you're allowed to live your own life," Patty said. "Plus, she and Walter are going to be busy with the baby anyway…" her eyes widened when she saw the look on Ralph's face. "Oh my God, no, that's not what I meant. I just mean…I mean she won't be empty nesting. That's the term, right?"

"I don't know, I think so." Ralph moved his finger in the circle of water caused by the glass on the table. "I guess you have a point."

"It's tough," Patty said. "This place has been your home for so long, and now you feel like you don't belong." She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "You have a place with me if you want it."

"You don't have to do that, Patty."

"Damn right I don't have to. That's the beauty of friendship, Ralph. You don't do things because you  _have_  to, you do them anyway."

* * *

Walter cursed quietly when Paige's lotion came tumbling out of the cabinet and split as it landed on the counter.

"You okay in there?" He heard her ask.

"Yeah, just being my clumsy self," he said, picking up the container and studying it. He could put it in a plastic baggie. He pulled open a drawer, searching for them, and secured the lotion, putting it back into the cabinet and pulling an energy shot out of the plastic case sitting next to the broken bottle. He was getting tired. Paige had told him to try and get some sleep, but he couldn't. It wasn't that he was worried about her – he was, of course, but it wasn't anxiety keeping him awake. It was excitement, and it was guilt. She couldn't sleep, and knowing she wanted to, his brain just didn't feel right in turning off. Opening the bottle, he tipped his head back and took it in one gulp.

"Hey, Walt?"

"Yeah, Love," he said, running a washcloth over the counter, removing all trace of spilled lotion. He wrung the washcloth, dropped it in the hamper, and headed back into the bedroom to see Paige attempting to get up. "Let me help you if you want to get up."

"My water broke," she said, pushing up off the bed and rising to her feet.

"Time to go?"

"Well, you know that little bit of pressure I could feel?"

He cocked his head. "Yeah."

"Yeah, it's like, ten times worse. I don't think this is going to take long at all now." Paige grabbed the pillows and tossed them to the floor, beginning to strip the bed.

"Paige." Walter walked over to her. "You don't have to do that now."

She stopped, looking at him with her eyes raised. "Walter, there is am – ni – otic fluid on this bedding. I'm just going to throw it in the wash."

"I can throw it in the wash," Walter said. "Even though it isn't even Thursday."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Sounds good. You press a few buttons, and I'll push a baby through my vagina. Equal partnership." She grinned when Walter rolled his eyes right back.

He rushed down the hall, dumping the bedding into the washing machine and cranking the dial to bulky. Emerging from the laundry room, he found Paige, now sans sweatpants, walking down the hall with their hospital bag and a pair of shorts. "Let me hang on to you while I put these on?"

"Only if you also give me that bag."

Paige handed over the packed bag and struggled into the shorts. "Okay," she said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "I'll text Ralph from the car. Let's go have a baby."


	47. Chapter 47

"Are you okay there, kiddo?" Paige asked from where she sat, perched on another ball, rocking back and forth slowly. She was nearly eight centimeters at her last check. She was rooting for ten at the next one.

"I'm feeling a little lightheaded," Ralph said.

"We've been here for four hours," Paige observed. She and Walter had, anyway. But Ralph hadn't arrived that long afterward. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Uh…" Ralph frowned as he thought. "I had a hot dog with Patty."

"You had a what?"

"A hot dog. When I was  _out_  with Patty."

Ah, right. Paige wondered how she hadn't realized before today of all days that Patty shared her name with a part of a hamburger. "Walter, get him a few dollars out of my purse. Ralph, go get some food."

"The cafeteria is too far away than I want to be from you right now."

Paige waved her hand. "I'll be fine. And we'll call you if things start progressing faster than we think. You need food. At least go to the vending machines and get something to put in your stomach."

"Mom…"

" _Son_ ," she said pointedly. "Go get some food."

"Here, Ralph," Walter said, taking five one – dollar bills from his own wallet and hanging them over.

He took them hesitantly. "You promise someone will tell me if anything happens?"

"You will be the first to know," Walter said. "Well, other than us, but…" he trailed off when he saw Paige raise her eyebrows. Clearing his throat, he changed up what he was saying. "You will be the first to know, no qualifiers. Now go put some calories in your stomach."

"Okay," he said, standing up. He went to his mother, kissing her on the forehead, before leaving the room and walking down the long hallway, around a corner and down another hallway to the three stairs that led to the lounge. There were breakfast bars in the vending machine. He supposed he should be good and get one of those.

He didn't realize until he bit into it just how hungry he was, and five bars later, he was out of money and ready to go back to room ten forty – two. Tossing the wrappers in the garbage can, he walked back out into the hallway, glancing right and then left as if he were crossing a street and could be bowled over by a Soccer Mom van at any second. To the right, the direction he needed to go, the hallway was empty. Someone, a heavily pregnant someone, was shuffling up the hallway to the left, and although Ralph only glanced at her for a second, their eyes met, and his head immediately turned to look at her again.

They stood there, both stock still, staring at each other for what felt like several minutes before Ralph broke the silence. "Bri?"

* * *

Walter dragged the chair from the corner of the room and settled down on it, just in front of Paige, now at the perfect height and distance to hold her hand as she rolled on the ball. "Good thing they have these here, huh?"

"God fuggin' bless," Paige said, a twinge of annoyance in her voice.

"I'm sorry."

She opened her eyes. "What?"

"Oh, you sounded…"

"Sorry." She closed her eyes again. "I'm tired. Body is doing a lot of work, here."

"You're right. I'm sorry for getting defensive."

"You weren't."

"Okay." He squeezed her hands. "If we're still at the two – minute mark, there's going to be another one in just a couple of seconds, maybe twenty? So prepare yourself. Relax, draw in deep breaths, focus on your happy place."

Paige gave a little laugh. "That sounds so ridiculous coming from you."

"I may think that the concept is a bit out there," Walter said, not changing his tone, "but nevertheless, this is what they told me to say to help you, so I'm saying it."

"I do appreciate the effort," Paige said, a corner of her mouth turning up into a smile.

"Good," Walter said, "good."

"Oh, here it comes," Paige said, shifting her weight slightly and beginning the rhythmic panting that she said helped.

"There you go," Walter said. "That's right. That's right, good."

"How long?" Paige asked between breaths, her eyes squeezed shut.

Barely a quarter of the time they were lasting now, but Walter didn't want to tell her that. "Oh, not long, not long at all. Just keep breathing, it will be over soon, I promise, and then you'll have that rest period, that nice rest period, not long, not long…" he was running out of words to say, processing that Paige had been asking how much longer more frequently than she had before. It was definitely almost go time now. "Almost done, Paige, you're almost there."

"Oh God," Paige said, her voice shuddering as she came out of it. "That one was really long."

It was exactly the length of the last one. "Pain rating?"

"Bad. Worse than the last one."

"Getting close."

"I hope so." She looked around the room, frowning. "Where's Ralph?"

"He went to the vending machine, remember?"

"He hasn't come back yet?"

Walter shook his head. "One of the others probably got here and he's talking to them, it's probably Cabe and Allie. He's fine. He'll be back in plenty of time, as long as you still want him to be in the room."

"Just keep every one else out of here, okay? Especially Toby. I love him but I don't need a detailed medical explanation for everything right now."

Walter chuckled. "Noted."

* * *

"Oh God, Ralph." Bri's eyes widened. "Why are you here?"

"My mom's in labor. You?" Ralph frowned. "I mean, obviously…" His eyes widened when Bri groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and staggering against the wall. "I mean, obviously."

They were standing maybe ten yards apart, but Ralph could see the look of annoyance on her face. "Yeah. Obviously." She continued to move toward him, her hand resting lightly on the wall as if to guide her.

"Shit, shit, shit," Bri repeated, a hand coming out to grip the door handle. "Ralph…" she whined.

"Just breathe," he offered lamely, completely unsure of what else she wanted from him.

She straightened up, wiping her eyes. "They told me to walk if I wanted. I don't know if they meant…I don't know if I walked too far. It just…it feels better. To keep moving." She sucked in another breath.

"Isn't your friend here?"

"No." Bri shook her head. "She's in traffic. I wasn't due until Christmas, remember?"

Right. "Oh, yeah." Ralph glanced at the clock up near the ceiling. He'd been away for ten minutes. He had to get back to his mother. "What room are you in? I'll take you back there. You shouldn't be out here unsupervised."

"Ten ten," she said. "I was just – oh shit."

"Another…Bri, these are really close together."

"No," she said. "I just got a pang in my back. It's not…" she trailed off, her eyes welling up. "Can you take me back to my room?"

"Yeah," he said. "Let's go. It's this way?"

She nodded. Ralph offered his arm, and she wrapped hers around it before they began to shuffle down the hall. "You walked a long way," he commented, wanting nothing more but to do this in silence but not being able to stand the awkwardness that silence held.

"I told you," she said. "It's too uncomfortable to not walk."

 _You can walk back and forth._  Brianna Shultz wasn't ever the best at common sense. "My mom would probably relate," he said. "She's been on that ball."

"Uh huh. Oh, shit."

"Back?"

"No. Contraction." Bri's fingers dug into Ralph's arm and he felt her body tense. " _Ow_ ,  _God_ ," she moaned, taking several seconds to complete the word. Her knees buckled, and Ralph locked his own, grabbing her and forcing her to stay on her feet. Her grip on his arm was strong, and Ralph felt his heart starting to race, panic bubbling up. Maybe it wasn't fair or logical for his brain to connect this grip with the way she had previously had a hold on him, keeping him in her control, but that was what was happening and all the old anxieties from the relationship were bubbling up. Ralph cleared his throat, trying to force them back down.

Bri's body relaxed and she gasped, gulping in air. Ralph took a step forward, and she moved along with him. Ten two, ten four, ten six, ten eight… "here we are," he said, pushing the door open. The room was a double, with two of everything and a curtain separating the two beds. Ralph thanked his lucky stars that she didn't have a roommate – or rather, that she didn't have a very specific one.

Bri walked to where her backpack sat and fished around inside, coming up with a water bottle and taking a long drink. Ralph shifted awkwardly. "So, uh, let me find a nurse for you…"

"No!" Her eyes were wide in alarm. "No, don't leave, you can't leave."

"Brianna," he said, "I have to get back to my mom, and you shouldn't be alone, so…"

"Stay."

He folded his arms. "No."

"Please?" She bit her lip. "Ralph…" She put the water bottle back in her backpack and moved toward him, stopping to put her hand on the edge of the bed. She closed her eyes, drawing in a breath as her body tensed again. She pressed her lips together, but only managed to stay composed for a moment. Then she was leaning on the bed, her head tucked to her chest, an animalistic sound coming from her.

Ralph went to her side. "Breathe, Brianna. Breathe."

"Ralph, it hurts so much," she whimpered.

"These are like, right on top of each other," he said, his heart beating faster again. "Are you sure we…don't you think…is this, like,  _happening_?" He realized immediately he wasn't going to get an answer right back, as Bri was still in the throes of it. " _Breathe_ , Bri."

"God, when will it  _stop_ ," she asked, her knuckles white. Ralph moved closer, reaching out to straighten her gown, and he froze momentarily when he felt how hard her stomach was. He suddenly thought back to his first college class, when Spencer Hobbs had suggested passing a kidney stone was the 'guy version of giving birth.'  _Bull shit, Spencer Hobbs._

Brianna gasped in relief, her posture relaxing slightly. "Two minutes," she managed, and it took Ralph a moment to realize she was answering his earlier questions. "Two minutes apart. My water hasn't broke yet. They said I'm only three centimeters."

"When was the last time someone checked on you?"

"Ten minutes max. Right before I went walking."

"Oh. Wow."

Bri looked at him. "How is your mom?"

"Same, two minutes, but her water broke a few hours ago and they said she may be ready to push soon. I really…" he looked toward the door. This wasn't about getting away from Bri. This was about being with his mom.

"Ralph," she said, a tremor in her voice. "Ralph, I'm scared. Please don't leave. I know I've done my fair share of bullshitting. That's not what this is. It hurts really bad and I'm  _scared_."

Ralph bit his lip. "Okay, how about this. You said your friend is on her way?"

She nodded.

"I'll stay until she gets here. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded again. "Thank you."

They made awkward small talk until Bri moaned again, reaching out and grabbing Ralph's hand and squeezing it hard. He squeezed back, gently, reminding her to breathe and putting his hand on her back where she said the pain was, attempting to help relieve it.

"God," she whimpered, " _God_ , make it  _stop_."

He might despise her, but he knew when she said she wasn't playing this time, she  _was_  telling the truth. She was scared and she was alone and she was barely eighteen.

"Breathe, Brianna," he said gently. "Breathe."


	48. Chapter 48

Florence pulled the electric blanket more tightly around her. She was sore today; all of the aches that she'd had periodically since the explosion were coming to a head all at once. The heat was helping, but the thought of moving filled her with dread.

"Walter texted," Sylvester said, coming up to the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Meh," she said. "How is Paige?"

"Walter says she's getting pretty close," he said. "I think we…or at least I…should go and meet the others."

"Okay," Florence said quietly.

"Hey, is something else wrong?" He asked gently.

She shrugged. "I just don't want to go to a hospital. I've been there so much lately. Thinking about it makes me think of burns and needles and the smell of bandages."

Sylvester pushed some hair back over hear head and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, honey."

"Don't feel sorry for me. I'm just being a wimp."

"Associating something with unpleasant history is not being a wimp."

"If you say so."

"Good," Sylvester said without missing a beat. "Because I do say so. So that makes it true by your own admission, yeah?" She rolled her eyes, and he grinned, crawling into the bed next to her. "Enjoy my quips, because you're stuck with them now."

"Have you ever thought about how weird it is to say that seriously?" Florence asked. "All that humor about being tied down."

"Ball and chain, that narrative?" Sylvester said. "Yeah. That's always made me angry. Like, actually  _angry_." He slid an arm around her – she grunted in slight discomfort, but then settled in contentedly. "If you hate the other person so much, just…don't get married? My wedding days were the best of my life." He kissed the side of her head. "They go on about how getting married means you only get that one woman from then on. Sounds good to me. I have no interest in being with anyone but you."

"Ditto," Florence said. She craned her neck around and raised her eyebrows at him. "Although, the fact that we're the only ones we've had a physical relationship with may make a difference there."

"Nah," Sylvester said. "The other three aren't like us in that sense, and they don't act like being together is some sort of trap."

Florence snuggled closer to him. "If you're not careful, I'm gonna fall asleep here and you won't be able to go to the hospital."

"Between you and this blanket I'm gonna sweat so badly you won't want me next to you.  _Seriously_ , Lori, how do you have this on?"

"Muscle aches and uterus cramps. Heat helps. Also it's December."

"Also it's California. It's not that cold."

"Okay. We can just blow you up and give you a menstrual cycle, then, since it's so easy."

"Fair. Fair." He reached over and took her hand, playing with her fingers. "You know, Walter and Paige would understand if we waited to meet the baby until they came home."

"No." She lifted her head. "We can go in. I'll be okay. I just don't want to move quite yet."

"That's okay. I would imagine dealing with all that at once sucks. I wouldn't want to move either."

"It's partly that. Partly just me wanting to stay like this with you." She gave him a crooked smile. "Because I love you. That's why I married you."

"What a coincidence," he said. "That's exactly why I married you." Sylvester's phone had started buzzing, and he fished it out of his pocket. "That may be Wal…oh, it's Toby." He pressed the green accept call button. "Hey. Hey, yeah, we'll be on our way soon. Have you heard anything additional?" He shook his head in response to Florence's inquiring look. "Okay, well if you are finishing that up first, we should get there at the same time, probably." He smirked, then looked back at Florence. "Toby says 'rad'."

"Rad?" Florence gave a little laugh.

Sylvester listened a moment. "Oh, I see." He looked back at Florence. "He says he's wearing underwear that says that."

She cocked her head. "Like, on the ass?"

"Like on the ass?" Sylvester asked into the phone. "He says no, not on the ass, on the waistband, he's not a child."

* * *

Brianna casually curled and uncurled her fingers around the Nitrous oxide mask that was the current plan for pain management. It had gone well for the past couple, Ralph thought. She had gripped his hand less tightly when breathing it in.

"Bless this mask, you know," she commented, confirming his thought.

"Good, glad."

"How much longer until the next one?"

It was as if she had gotten a second wind. Ralph looked at the timer. "You're probably gonna go about…uh huh."

Bri stopped talking and put the mask back to her mouth, closing her eyes and breathing in while placing her other hand flat against her stomach. "Oh, God…"

Ralph rubbed his fingers in a circular motion around the spot on her back that she said was the most painful. "Easy, Bri." The nitrous oxide wouldn't fully relieve the pain; it was only meant to take the edge off, but for someone who couldn't have an epidural due to a fear of needles, it was the best option. He kept time in his head, ten seconds, twenty…he wondered how his mom was doing. Walter knew where he was, but they didn't want to stress her out. Paige thought he was in the waiting area talking to Allie and Cabe, who in reality hadn't even arrived yet. Happy and Toby, and Sylvester and Florence, they were apparently both en route, at least the last he'd heard. That was nearly an hour ago, so they probably were there. Why Walter had chosen to use the one couple who hadn't arrived as Ralph's alibi was beyond the younger genius, but regardless, what Paige didn't know couldn't hurt her.

Bri tossed the mask aside and stumbled toward the sink, placing her hands on the edge and bending, vomiting violently. "Brianna!" he said hurrying over. She stumbled backward against him, a hand in front of her mouth. "Brianna, Jesus."

"Oh, the gas," she moaned. "My head is spinning."

They had been told that it sometimes caused nausea. Of  _course_  it would for her. Nothing else was helping, so why would this? "Do you want to get on all fours or something?" He suggested.

She straightened up, turning to face him. "I'm not pushing yet, Ralph."

"No, but my mom said that changing positions often during this part can help, too, and if your back..."

"Good for your mom." Bri waddled back over to the bed, crawling awkwardly onto it. "Ugh. I'm so tired."

"I'm sorry." Ralph wasn't really sure what else to say.

Bri grabbed a pillow she had brought from home and hugged it to her, resting her head on it and closing her eyes. "Ugh, Ralph. I'm glad you're here."

He would actually rather be anywhere else. "I'm…glad the mask helped for a bit. Yeah?"

"I just want this to be over. Put it behind me." She opened her eyes briefly, then closed them wearily. "I need this to be over."

"It will be. Soon." She was progressing slowly, the doctor had said it could be another six hours or more before she was even ready to push. But still. Soon. Ish.

"Not soon enough," Bri said. "I just want – oh  _fuck_." She stuck her arm out, hand reaching for him. " _Ralph_."

He took her hand, wincing as she clamped down. She bit into the pillow, muffling her moans but only slightly. "Go – o – od." There were tears in her eyes, and Ralph cleared his throat, grunting quietly. He wanted to be with his mother. She was closer to delivery than Bri, he actually  _loved_  his mother…

"Bri! Babe!"

Ralph looked up. He recognized the girl who stood in the doorway, jaw gaping. Snapping out of her surprise, she rushed over to the other side of the bed from Ralph, reaching over and brushing damp hair away from her face. "Girl, girl, breathe."

"You're here," Bri said, gasping for breath as the contraction eased.

"I am," she said. "Told you I would be, right? Fuck your parents." Dropping her voice to a stage whisper, she asked, "what is Ralph doing here?"

"I can hear you, Mina."

"He was…his mom is having the baby," she said. "He was staying with me until you got here."

"Oh. Okay. Did you…"

"No.  _Shut up_!"

Ralph cocked his head in confusion.

"Nothing," Mina said to him.

Ralph rolled his eyes, glancing down at his phone as it pinged to signal a new text message. It was Walter.  _Get back here._  "Uh…"

"Go," Mina said, waving her hands. "You clearly have better things to do."

He folded his arms. "I do, actually."

"Go to your stupid mother," Bri mumbled, shifting herself so she was facing her friend.

Ralph didn't say anything, but he glared – hard – before turning and heading for the door. Once outside, he broke into a run.

* * *

"Okay," the doctor said, changing their pair of gloves and motioning to the attendants. "You are ten centimeters and baby wants to crown. You ready to go?"

Paige nodded, squeezing Walter's hand and looking up at him with a smile. As long as they had been together, he thought, she continued to astonish him. She was the one who had to go through this, and yet she kept checking in, making sure that he was getting the full excitement out of the experience. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Do you want to do it sitting, like you are, or in another position?" The doctor asked.

"I don't care," Paige mumbled. "Just let me push. Please."

"Absolutely," they said. "You can go ahead whenever you're ready. Just don't go too hard right away, okay?"

"Mmmmm," Paige whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut. Walter and Ralph were holding each of her hands, something she had said earlier would make this easier on her.  _All I know I want is you two to be there._

"There you go," the doctor said, nodding their head encouragingly. "Keep going…there. Good, good, Paige. That was a very good first one." They glanced at the nurse, who was studying the monitors. "All good there, T?"

"All good."

"Good."

"This isn't comfortable," Paige said. "I want to do something else."

"Sure." The doctor nodded again. "We can work around you. Whatever you want."

"Help me," she said to Walter, and he gave her leverage as she struggled to her feet. "Oh," she gasped as she wobbled a bit. "Wow. Balance fail. Okay."

She slowly dropped down, and Walter lowered himself with her, thoroughly impressed with how calm she was, considering. "Ralph?" He said, raising his eyebrows. The boy got behind his mother, kneeling and letting her lean against him. She moaned again, squeezing both of Walter's hands.

"Keep breathing, Paige," the doctor said, hunkering down next to them. "Inhale, exhale, keep that oxygen flowing." They scooted a little closer to Walter. "Let me just get a look in here, okay? Nurse?" Reaching out their hand, the doctor grabbed a towel from the nurse and positioned it underneath Paige. "How are you feeling?"

Paige let go of one of Walter's hands to wipe her eyes. "The pressure is so bad."

The doctor nodded. "Well, I know you can't see, but your little one's head is showing. Look, Dad, you see?"

Now that he was a little farther away from her, Walter could see. "Yes."

"This is a good position if it feels good for you," the doctor continued, "it keeps your hips wide and is good for oxygen flow to you and the baby. Does this feel like a good one?"

Paige nodded. Ralph gave a small, timid smile.

"Good. Give me another one when you're ready, remember that this can take…"

Paige moaned. "She's coming."

"Yes, she is, and you're doing – oh!" The doctor looked as surprised as Walter when suddenly the head was delivered. "Look at you go, Paige," they said with a smile, reaching out with a soft cloth and dabbing away.

"She?" Walter asked, cocking his head and looking at Paige. "Do you know something I don't?"

"No," Paige said, adjusting her grip on his hand. "Is my pronoun choice really the takeaway right now?"

"Easy, Mom," Ralph said.

The doctor reached underneath Paige's belly. "Can you give us another one?" They asked. "Take a deep breath, just focus…nice…"

The baby didn't move – not in terms of progress anyway. It's head shook from one side to the other, eyes squeezed shut, and Walter thought he was gripping Paige's hand as tightly as she was gripping his.  _This is our child. Our baby. Almost here._

"Baby may be positioned just slightly awkwardly," the doctor said. "I'm just gonna take my little finger here and make sure…" There was a few seconds of silence. "Okay. Nothing to worry about. Rest through this one if you want, or give another push, it's all up to you."

Paige gasped and grunted, tipping her head to the side against Walter's shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm so proud of you."

"Look," the doctor said. "Look right down here."

Walter did, just in time. The baby slid into the doctor's hands, squirming and making little grunting sounds. Paige leaned backward against Ralph, breathing heavily, but with a smile on her face.

"More towels, please," the doctor asked, and suddenly, from where Walter couldn't even have said, a pile of them were surrounding Paige, allowing her to settle down on the floor, her back against Ralph's chest, as the nurse quickly rubbed the baby down. The doctor smiled at them. "Congratulations," they said, placing the newborn on Paige's chest. "You have a daughter."

"Oh, my God," Paige said, laughing a little bit as she cuddled the baby close. "Walter, look. We have a daughter."

"We have a daughter," he repeated, reaching out and putting his hand under Paige's.

From behind her, Ralph craned his neck to kiss Paige on the cheek. "Wow, look at her."

Walter couldn't tell if Ralph was referring to his mother or new sister. He decided either was perfect.

"She's so beautiful," Paige said, her voice cracking, and Walter instinctually wanted to comfort her, not used to her crying from happiness. "Walter, just look at her."

"Ralph?" He asked quietly, and the oldest nodded, scooting out from behind his mother so Walter could sit properly next to her and wrap his arms around them. Ralph sat down again on Paige's other side. The nurse was close by too, checking the baby's vitals, doing so while minimalizing her interference with their moment.

They had picked this place for that very reason.

 _We made her._  It was such a stupid thing to be in awe about. Babies were conceived every day, born every day, it was hardly a new concept that the child in Paige's arms wouldn't exist if the two of them hadn't created her. But still. The child in Paige's arms wouldn't exist if the two of them hadn't created her.

He didn't care how many times it happened every day. It didn't happen to  _them_  every day and so he didn't give one whit how cliché his emotions might be.

"Amber Florence," Paige mumbled, looking up at Walter as if to make sure that was still the plan. He smiled. "Amber Florence O'Brien."

"Suggestion," Ralph said. "Amber Florence Dineen. You guys already get the same last name. I don't want to be outnumbered."


	49. Chapter 49

Amber was tiny and red and the lanugo covering her body was thicker than Walter expected. It seemed no matter how much he gently wiped her eyes, they still were gooey and closed except for very brief instances. Paige had told him she wouldn't be smiling in response to them or laughing or cooing for weeks. In a way, Walter couldn't wait for all that. But another part of him loved the way she was right now. Simple.

Paige was sleeping; the toll the pregnancy took on her showing now in a way it hadn't when Amber was still growing within her. She was laying on her side, a pillow between her legs and a heating pad tucked in place along her abdomen. She was wearing a pad – and from what she said, not the most comfortable feeling one – and there was also an ice pack between her underwear and the pillow. Her breasts, which had filled prior to the birth and were yet to be relieved by the tiny amount Amber had taken earlier, were leaking into her gown. Walter had read that that didn't usually happen until two or three days after. There were bags under her eyes. She was paler than usual.

Everyone talked about how pregnancy was a beautiful thing. Walter didn't deny its potential to be that, in certain moments. But looking at her now, sleeping for the first time in days, he was glad that she had assured him, time and time again, that despite her doubts early on, she wanted to go through with this pregnancy one hundred percent. He couldn't fathom trying to guilt or force her into going through this. If she ever looked the way she did now solely because of him, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Amber moved her arm, and her hands being curled into fists made it look like she was protesting something. He hoped she would grow up to be as strong willed as the women that would be in her life were. Do no harm, Happy had said once, but take no shit. He lifted her up, lowering his head at the same time to put his lips gently to her forehead. Right now it was difficult to figure out which of them she looked more like. She had his dark hair, thick and curly, and from what he could tell of her complexion, she seemed to take after her mother. If he was honest with himself, though, the person she resembled the most, overall, was…

The one Aunt that Amber would never know was her only biological one. And even though Scorpion had if nothing else taught them all that blood didn't make family, that knowledge still hurt.

Amber opened her mouth, then closed it again. Walter wondered if that had been a yawn. He had expected her to have fallen asleep already. She seemed content, though, shifting only slightly and only occasionally in his arms.

The others hadn't met her yet. Ralph was out with them. Paige's energy had crashed very shortly after the first feeding and they decided to let her nap before there were any visitors. Walter wished he could just take Amber out into the waiting area and show them all, even the people he didn't know, look, here she is, this is our daughter, and she's perfect, even though that's scientifically impossible.

But protocol. And germs. And he really didn't want to get up right now. Shifting so he was leaning backward, his feet extended in front of him and the weight of his legs on his heels, he nestled Amber against his chest. She made a squeaking noise, then went almost completely still, her breathing coming in a slow, regular tempo. Walter rocked her gently, slowly rubbing her back.

* * *

Ellie was passed out asleep on one of the benches, using her father's bag for a pillow. Toby sat near her, using sleight – of – hand to perform 'magic' for a little girl who was waiting with her grandparents for word on how her mother's emergency c – section had gone. He was no Penn or Teller; Ralph could clearly see how he performed every trick, but the girl kept giggling and clapping and he had lost count of how many times one of the grandparents had shot Toby a grateful look.

Cabe and Allie had gone to the cafeteria – Allie was feeling a little light headed – and Toby and Sylvester were down on the floor below, watching Tad as he played in the little area that was sectioned off for kids. Florence sat two seats down from where Ralph was, near an outlet for her phone and for the heating pad that was wrapped around her middle.

He realized when someone went up to the desk to complain about the wait that he had been staring blankly at the wall for nearly an hour now. He reached for his phone to check the time and noticed he had a text from…well, the number wasn't in his address book, but it  _used_  to be, and he recognized it as Mina's.  _Still almost no progress. Doctors are monitoring. She may need a ceezarian._

Ceezarian.

Ralph closed the message, noticing at the same time that he had a voicemail. He went to his call log.  _Missed call, YoSaffBridge._  A Firefly villain who used people. His recent nickname for his ex.

Ralph opened his voicemail and put the phone to his ear. "Ralph, please come back," came Bri's voice, sounding weak. "I really want you to be here. I know I've been terrible…" there was a pause, and he heard her take in a slow, deep breath, "but you always made me feel safe and I'm really, really scared. Please come back here. If only for a few minutes."

Ralph set his jaw.

"What's the matter?" Florence asked, glancing over. "That was quite the face."

"It's Brianna. She's still in labor and she wants me to come back to her room and be with her."

"Oh, no."

"Yeeeah."

Florence hesitated a moment, and then got up, placed the heating pad on the table next to her seat, and came over to sit beside him, nodding slowly. "It's a tough spot. She was horrible to you. I never said this, you know, it wasn't really my place, but I was –  _am_  proud of you for getting out. And for staying out."

Ralph gave her a small smile. "Thanks."

"Do you, uh, remember when I first join…when I first moved in next door?"

Ralph nodded. "What about it?"

"The whole thing about everyone hating me."

Ah. "Yes."

"And you remembered that I almost died that one time, right? I mean, obviously I've almost died a couple of times. But the garbage island mission on Thanksgiving. I would have died if it wasn't for Walter and Toby."

Ralph nodded.

"Neither of them cared for me. And I had just finished a huge fight with your mom. But they saved my life, and there may have been points along the way where they might have regretted that…" A corner of her mouth turned up slightly, "but in that moment, I needed help, and they provided it. Because they were able, and because they are good people." She reached over and patted his shoulder. "You are good people, Ralph. And if you can't go to her, I don't blame you. No one should, no one who knows what you've been through with her. But if you  _can_  go to her, someone who is scared and in pain and not at all sure where her life is headed…I think it would be a good idea."

Ralph looked at her, slowly rolling his lower lip under. "You're right."

* * *

Ralph knew that Brianna's labor had come fast and hard and with the frustration that came out of a slow progression, but he didn't quite realize until he laid eyes on her again, drenched in sweat and curled on her side bellowing in pain, just how different her experience was from his mother's. He obviously didn't remember his own birth, but his mother had told him that the worst part about it was the length of time. "I'm not saying it wasn't painful, because it obviously was," she had said, "but based on my memory of it and from what I've read and heard from other people, on that level I think it was pretty average. You were a really good baby in all senses. Not that you had any control over any of that. But I like to think it was because you were a good baby. Just took your time arriving, just like you did with walking and talking."

"Where are the nurses?" Ralph asked Mina. "There should be someone in here with her."

"She demanded they leave and only are in here for checks or if one of us calls them," Mina said quietly. "She's super self – conscious of how she's responding to all this."

"Please tell me her water has broken."

"No."

"Ralph," Brianna gasped, seeming to just now notice that he was there. "Ralph, it hurts so much. It doesn't stop."

Ralph took her hand. "I know it does. But it will be over soon. Just focus on that."

"I can't," she whispered. "It's not almost over. It's still so far away." The last word came out sounding strained, and Ralph saw Brianna set her jaw, sliding a hand behind her back and grunting.

"Breathe, Bri Bri. Breathe," Mina said in a low, gentle voice."

Brianna's moan grew louder; she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head down against the plastic back of the bed chair. She said something Ralph couldn't make out before moaning again, impossibly louder. She was laying on her right side, and she bent her left leg, reaching down with her free hand to hook it around the leg below the knee. Ralph counted the time in his head, five seconds, six, seven, and he got to nineteen before she gasped for air and her body relaxed. "Should we call the nurses?" He asked. He knew the teams here worked to put the mother and baby in as less stress as possible, and they were as hands off as they could be for the people that wanted that. But…

"No," Bri said. "Don't call them. They'll just tell me my vitals are fine."

"I'm  _sure_  with this kind of pain you can get a c – section."

"I don't want one," Bri said firmly. "I don't want that ugly scar."

It was a valid reason, but when Bri said it, Ralph just wanted to roll his eyes.

"You did so good, Bri," Mina said. "You're doing amazing. Isn't she, Ralph?"

"Uh…uh huh." He glanced at the time.

"Oh God, I can't do this," Bri whimpered, and with the tightening of her hand around his Ralph realized she was already riding another wave. "Somebody make it stop," she said, her voice high – pitched. "Somebody…"

"You can make it stop," Mina said. "And you will. Your baby will be here soon, Bri Bri, how cool is that?"

Bri muttered something under her breath before moaning again.

This time, when it was over, she told them that she wanted to move around. Ralph and Mina helped haul her to her feet, and within a second Ralph felt something splash against his calves. He and Mina looked down in unison.

"My water broke," Bri said quietly.

Ralph and Mina made eye contact, making a silent promise not to tell Bri that it had gotten on them. "Good," Mina said, patting Bri on the arm. "Good, more steps. More steps until the end."

"Oh," Bri said, half a groan and half in surprise. "It's lower now, I can feel it."

"Good," Mina said. "Good. You'll be through this before you know it."

Ralph was unprepared for the amount of downward force he and Mina had to counteract seconds later when Bri's knees buckled and her whole body tensed. "Easy!" Ralph said, nearly going off balance. He caught himself, keeping an iron grip on Bri's arm as she stayed low, making a sound that sounded more animal than human.

_Yeah, yeah, humans were animals, don't pick this fight now._

Great, now his brain was narrating an argument with itself.

"I…" Bri grunted. "Oh God."

"Just keep breathing, girl," Mina said.

"I need to push," Bri said.

"No," Mina said. "No, Bri, not yet."

"I have to, Mina. I have to." She made a grunting sound that got away from her, ending in a sharp cry. "I have to. It's so bad."

"The pressure?" Ralph asked. Bri nodded, her eyes squeezed shut.

Mina looked alarmed. "You can't push yet, Bri. You're only at eight. You have to wait until ten."

"Actually," Ralph said. "Not to, uh, not to mansplain or anything here, but I've read that it's usually best to follow what your body is telling you. Women who were directed to resist the urge were more likely to end up with surgery or an epidural. So I think if she wants to…"

"Do not tell me what to do," Bri snapped.

"You literally just asked me…" he trailed off.  _Not the time, Genius._ He looked at Mina. "I'm gonna go find the doctor."

She nodded. "Good idea." Dropping down beside Bri, who was now seated on the floor, rocking and moaning while clutching her belly, she ran a hand through her friend's hair. "Pant, Mina. Just wait for the doctor to okay it, okay?"

"I can't, Mins."

"Yes, you can. I'll do it with you, okay?"

Ralph darted out the door, waving down the closest nurse. "Brianna Shultz needs the doctor. She wants to push.  _What_  is that look on your face for?" He demanded.

"Uh, well," the nurse said, "her doctor was called into emergency surgery. The second doctor we have is with him. It's a c – section and there are complications. The other doctor we have had a seizure ten minutes ago and is now hospitalized himself so he isn't in any condition to – "

Ralph fought down the urge to scream at her. California law said that the doctor to patient ratio in Labor and Delivery had to be one doctor for every two patients. There were only four people in labor at the moment, and they had had three doctors. Even with the one doctor's collapse, that had still been two doctors for four patience – maintaining the ratio – until whatever had happened that had required two doctors in an operating room. "What am I supposed to do? Help her myself?"

"Goodness, no," the nurse said, starting to move down the hall. "I'll go in there. As long as nothing goes wrong, I'm more than capable of handling it myself."

"She's in a lot of pain," Ralph said, staring to follow her down the hall.

"That is common. Her vitals and the vitals of the baby have been excellent considering." The nurse was walking briskly. "But we'll make sure everything is a – okay. Hello, Brianna!" she said cheerfully as she entered the room, Ralph right behind her. "I don't know if you remember me from earlier, but I'm Kathy. Call me Kat if you'd like, since I'm not a seventy year old woman who shares inaccurate memes on Facebook just because it's text on a picture. Sounds like you're ready to have this baby?"

Brianna nodded. Her hand was tightly gripping Mina's, their knuckles white.

"Okay. Can we get you up on this table, please? There we go." Ralph moved away from Brianna's feet as Nurse Kat did an examination. "Okay. You're just about nine centimeters, but if you feel the urge to push, you can start. What's important is following your instincts and listening to your body. I'm not gonna tell you when to bear down or for how long. You do what feels right, okay?" She reattached the monitors as she talked, moving with surprising efficiency.

"Okay," Bri groaned.

"Now, this part could take a while. I want you to remember not to be frustrated, okay?" Kat patted her arm. "I know this seems impossible, but everything is going normally so far. Trust me, nothing you can say or do will shock us. The first labor I attended, I got shit on and puked on within five minutes of one another. And then puked on again. Though the second puking was from the husband. Not sure if that makes it better or worse."

In spite of herself, Bri gave a little laugh.

"Then there was one woman who told her husband, oh gosh, I probably shouldn't even say this, but he told her to just try to focus on the gift that is the reason for all of this. She completely missed that he was talking about the baby and said 'you may think your dick is a gift, but trust me, it's not.'"

Ralph and Bri both burst out laughing. Mina chuckled to. "I love Bo Burnham."

Kat looked at her in confusion. "Who?"

"God, what do I  _do_?" Bri asked, her body tensing up again.

"Whatever you want to do, hon," Kat said. "Just remember to breathe."

* * *

When Ralph emerged back into the waiting room, everyone was present except for Cabe. He shook his head when they all stood up, looking at him expectantly. "No," he said. "Nothing yet. I need…does anyone have…"

"Here," Allie said, fishing through her purse and holding out a five – hour energy. "Are you going back in there? Are they operating?"

"Not operating," Ralph said. "They're down a doctor and another one is stuck in traffic trying to get here."

"Traffic?" Toby asked. He and Happy had sat back down, and her head was on his shoulder. Tad and Ellie were both asleep, cuddled up close to one another. "It's almost midnight."

"It's also L.A.," Sylvester pointed out.

"With first babies I guess they try to let the mother push for three hours at least before going to a c – section."

"Harder to recover from those," Happy said.

"That's what Kat told me." Ralph nodded. "She's been pushing an hour only."

"Any progress?" Allie asked.

Ralph shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. But the nurse says she's still having a fairly common time of it, if not perhaps a little more painful than average, but then again pain is subjective and everyone has different tolerances."

"That's a true story," Happy said. "Toby here could  _not_  have handled the labor I had with Ellie."

"I absolutely could have," Toby protested. When Happy looked away, he glanced at the others, frantically shaking his head and mouthing  _no freaking way._

Ralph opened the energy bottle and tipped it back, wrinkling his nose at the taste. This wasn't a flavor he cared for, but he wanted an energy burst more than anything else. "Thanks," he said to Allie. "Where's Cabe?"

"Your mom is up for visitors," she responded. "They wanted Cabe to go first. You know…Grandpa, and all." There was a hint of pride in her voice and in her smile. "I was still not feeling the best so I waited out here."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Oh, yes."

"Then go on back!" Ralph said, gesturing toward the hallway. "You're Grandma, you know."

"Oh, Ralph," she said, waving her hand. "I'm not even close to what Cabe is to them. And that's okay."

"Allison," he said, not even knowing if that was her actual full name. "If Amber grows up knowing Cabe as Grandpa, she's gonna know you as Grandma no matter how much longer my parents have known Cabe. Go on back."

"Well…"

"Go!" The others chorused.

Allie stood, blushing, and headed down the hall.

"And it's midnight!" Sylvester said, lifting his hand to show his watch despite their being three clocks in the waiting area.

Florence was laying on the bench, her head on a pillow in his lap. She stirred slightly at his declaration. "Yippee," she deadpanned.

"Is there some particular significance to midnight?" Toby asked.

Happy nudged him. "Bri's baby is officially, legally younger than Amber."

* * *

Sylvester was unprepared for how he was going to feel when he saw Walter and Paige with their daughter. The way they looked at her. The way they looked at  _each other_. It gave him the warmest, fuzziest feeling.

When his wife took the baby into her arms and cradled her close, he thought his brain was going to short – circuit from the intensity of the feelings rushing from it.

"Sly," Florence said, rocking the newborn gently. "We need one."

"We need one, huh?"

"Yes. Babies are so tiny and cute. I mean, look at this little bastard."

"Hey," protested Paige and Walter.

Florence either didn't hear or ignored them. "Sylvester, seriously."

"We already agreed we wanted kids," he said.

"I know, but like…she's so small and warm and don't you just want to cuddle her forever?"

"This is definitely not the Florence Tipton we knew years ago," Walter said quietly to Paige.

"We would not have named our child after the Florence Tipton we knew years ago," she pointed out.

Florence looked away from Sylvester. "You named her after me? I thought her name was Amber."

"It is," Paige said. "Amber Florence O'Brien. Well, that last part is up for debate. Ralph is pushing hard for Dineen. We're basically just considering it to humor him."

"But…?"

"You don't approve," Walter said, "do you?"

"No, I mean…" she glanced at Sylvester, then back at the couple. "Why?"

"Because you're our friend. Because we want her to be as strong as you are. Because you risked everything to save the company. Because none of us would be the same if we didn't know you." Paige rattled off each reason so quickly, so easily.

Florence looked quickly at Sylvester, and he could tell how touched she was. "Here," she said quietly, holding Amber out. He gathered her up, pulling her close to him, watching as his wife approached the bed on the same side as Walter. "I'm honored," she said, biting her lip before continuing. "I love you both."

Walter reached out and put a hand on her back. "We love you, too." Paige nodded, reaching out, and Florence took her hand. Sylvester saw the slight pressure as Paige squeezed it.

If someone had told him five years ago that this would one day play out in front of him, Sylvester wouldn't have believed it. And yet in the here and now, he couldn't think of anything that made more sense.


	50. Chapter 50

"I can't do this anymore," Bri gasped, slumping backward against the reclined part of the bed.

"You've got this, girl," Mina said encouragingly, switching which hand was curled around her friend's and shaking the other one out.

"You're doing good, Brianna," the doctor said. He had arrived forty minutes before, bringing the hospitals doctor to patient ratio back to acceptable levels. "You're doing very well. We should have the head delivered soon."

"Fucking fantastic," Bri muttered.

"Hey," Ralph said. "The important thing is you're doing this, remember?" When the doctor had arrived, Bri had already been pushing for an hour and a half, and the possibility of a c – section had been floated. Bri had vehemently protested, but was getting to the point where if it was offered again, she might consent to the surgery. It didn't seem like it would be necessary, though. She had learned how to push effectively now, and more progress was being made between rest periods. Still, her progress was very two steps forward, one step back, a stark contrast to his mother, who had required just four pushes to deliver Amber. Ralph wondered if the reason Brianna was taking so much longer was because she was smaller, because this was her first, or because sometimes things just progressed more slowly for no discernable reason.

Patty would call it Karma. Ralph wasn't going to go there.

"Fuck," Bri moaned, drawing the word out, gripping Ralph and Mina's hands hard. It was only a few seconds before she faltered and slumped backward, too tired to keep pushing even though the contraction wasn't over.

"That's okay, Brianna," the doctor said. "Just rest a minute. You don't have to push every time."

"I just want it out of me," Bri said weakly.

"And you will get that very soon. Once the head is out it should be easier."

"Mina," Bri started, "call my parents and curse them out for me?"

"Absolutely," Mina said. "But you have to do something for me. Have this baby."

" _Mina_."

"Tit for tat."

"That's how I got pregnant in the first place."

Ralph set his jaw.

"Just breathe through this one," the nurse said, rubbing Bri's leg soothingly. "Are you sure you don't want to try a different position?"

"She's too tired for your fancy ass positions," Mina snapped.

"Mina," Ralph said.

"Oh, stay out of this, homeboy."

"Mina," Bri said again.

"Sorry."

The doctor was looking rapidly from one to the other as if he had no idea how to follow what was going on. He cleared his throat and shook his head. "Brianna, you can reach down here and feel the baby's head if you'd like."

"No," Bri said, her head lolling from side to side.

"Okay. That's fine. Your choice."

"Sometimes that does help, sweetheart," the nurse said. "It helps you see that you're really almost – "

"I  _said_  no."

She held up her hands. "Okay. Okay."

"Can I push again?" Bri asked, drawing in a deep breath.

"Absolutely," the doctor told her. "This is all you. You do what feels right, and we are here to encourage and assist."

Ralph squeezed her hand, and he could tell by Brianna's groan turning into a gasp of relief that the head was delivered even before the doctor said so. "Great job," the older man continued. "You're almost there, Brianna. You're gonna meet him or her very soon. This is almost over."

No it wasn't, Ralph thought. This was just the beginning. He turned away, releasing Bri's hand, suddenly feeling nauseated. He barely made it to the sink before the grain bars he choked down earlier made their reappearance.

"Are you okay, Ralph?" The nurse asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah. Just…just tired, I guess." The vomit was colored pink. Was it blood? Was it the energy shot he had downed earlier? Ralph felt weak in the knees. He heard the nurse say something else, heard Brianna moan and curse, and then everything blurred together.

* * *

When Ralph opened his eyes, he found himself in a hospital bed with multiple things attached to him. Glancing up and to the left, he saw that the dull pain in his elbow was from an I.V. There was a pulse oximeter on a finger on his right hand. He couldn't remember getting into this room. But there was something – someone – entirely recognizable sitting by the bed. "Dad."

"Hey, he's awake," Walter said, a smile both of relief and affection on his face.

"Where…why?"

"You had a panic attack in the delivery room with Brianna. Do you remember that?"

He remembered he was nauseous. "I threw up. I don't remember anything after that."

"You were laying on the floor, barely conscious, and the symptoms you described were similar to those of a heart attack. The nurse asked if anyone in your family had heart problems and you cited Cabe. Then you lost consciousness. They determined – you did wake up briefly a couple times over the last hour – that you were in a severe panic episode and you were also dehydrated and sleep deprived."

"Wow." Ralph mentally analyzed himself. He felt he might be shaky if he stood up, and he had a dull headache, but other than that he was feeling normal again. "Did she have the baby? Bri, I mean."

Walter nodded. "Yes. It's a boy. Big. Eight pounds and something. They're both doing well."

Ralph nodded. "That's good."

"I haven't seen either of them," Walter said, "but that Meanie girl came out and told us."

Ralph smirked. "It's Mina."

"Aimee is here, you know. She was excited to see Tad."

Ralph wondered if he was supposed to know who Aimee was. Something about that name rang a bell. But then again, he  _was_  tired and dehydrated. "Oh, that's good. Does, uh…does Mom know I'm here?"

"She does. We didn't tell her until they diagnosed you and knew things were fine, but imagine if we'd tried to keep this from her. She'd have found out and gone all mad hen on us."

Ralph laughed. "Don't mess with her offspring."

"Exactly." Walter smiled.

"I suppose when I'm allowed to leave this room I'll have to go see them." Ralph cocked his head. "She was almost all done delivering when I passed out. I remember that."

"I guess it was just a couple of minutes after they took you out of the room. Baby was facing up, so that took a little bit longer."

Ralph wondered if that caused the longer labor or if it just made the pushing phase longer. He supposed he could ask, or look it up, but he wasn't in the mood for that at the moment. "Well, I'm glad they're both okay."

Walter nodded.

"Especially the baby. It's not his fault his mother is a witch."

Walter gave a little chuckle. "No, not at all." He glanced toward the door. "I'm supposed to tell the nurses when you're up."

Ralph moved into a sitting position, letting his legs hang off the side of the bed, his arm behind him to not disturb the I.V. "Okay."

"Hey." Walter walked up to him. "I just wanted to say something. Before other people get in here."

Ralph looked up at him. "Okay?"

Walter gave a slow nod. "I'm, uh…I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. Both of us are, of course, but…"

"You have nothing to be proud of, Dad," Ralph said.

"You aren't wrong often, but look at that," he said with a smile. "I'm serious." He sat down on the bed next to Ralph and looked at him very seriously. "You were in a relationship that went bad. You got out. I know she makes you anxious. I know that was probably what caused your attack today. But you…what's that phrase Toby always uses? You keep on keeping on. I don't know if I would have had the strength to do the same, if I was in your shoes. You're brave, Ralph. You're the bravest person I've ever met. And the fact that I get to be your father – the fact that that isn't our default but a relationship that we've created for ourselves…" he trailed off. "You know that you and your mom are  _both_  the reason the I believe in love."

Ralph leaned to the side, resting his head on Walter's shoulder. His arm was still stretched out behind him, not the most comfortable position, but he didn't want to move. Walter patted his back. "I hate seeing you like this," he said quietly.

"I'll be okay," Ralph said. "I've got all of you."

"And don't you ever forget it."

* * *

Paige wasn't able to go to Ralph; they told her she needed to stay in her room, but everyone assured her that her son – her oldest – was going to be fine. That comforted her, made the tension in her spine dissipate and allowed her to focus all of her attention onto the tiny girl who had her hand resting against Paige's chest as she fed.

Paige wasn't sure she would ever get over the fact that Ralph wasn't just her child now. He was her  _oldest._

Amber – her youngest – looked like what she would imagine Megan might have at this age. Paige wondered if Walter had had the same thought. She wondered if  _Sylvester_  had had the same thought. Regardless, her daughter was healthy and strong and could certainly scream, and while Paige knew she would not be thrilled about that once they got her home, right now she was just relieved that the girl was projected to be discharged in the morning.  _I don't care if it's a boy or a girl. I just want a healthy baby_ , was what everyone said. Paige took that a step farther. She wanted a  _happy_  baby, even if not in perfect medical health. Megan had been sick. Megan had been one of the happiest people Paige had ever met. The fact that Amber seemed the picture of health was certainly not something Paige was going to complain about, but she would be lying if she tried to claim that the little contented sounds she'd been hearing the girl make weren't her favorite part.

Walter had told her that Brianna's baby was here, which meant that at least in the biological sense, Paige was a grandmother. She didn't feel like one. People could  _all life is a miracle_  at her all day long but that didn't make her any more thrilled about the fact that her son's abuser now had another way to keep him tied to her for the foreseeable future. The knowledge just made her feel scared, as she cuddled Amber close, as she thought about getting her home and rocking her in Veronica's chair and about curling up on the couch with Walter with the baby monitor nearby.

She was supposed to protect her children. She had nearly lost jobs, she had performed feats of near superhuman strength, and she had used her words fiercely to protect Ralph when he was growing up, and she would do the same with Amber. Everyone told her she was a good mother, and she usually believed them.

But she hadn't been able to protect her son from Brianna Schultz.


	51. Chapter 51

Ralph wrung his hands as he stood outside of Brianna's door. She and the baby had been moved to another room, not far from where Paige and Amber were. He hadn't wanted to come, not so soon, not alone. Walter, Florence, and Happy had all independently offered to come with him, but he'd declined. As much as he didn't want to talk to her alone, he felt he had to, especially since she had texted him that Mina had wandered off to find food.

A text from Will.  _You've got this._

A text back.  _Thank you._

He had made his decision. He would offer to pay for childcare. He would buy them things – as opposed to sending money, so he knew his money was actively going toward the baby. Sylvester's loophole was a brilliant one, they had voicemails and screenshots to prove Bri's manipulation, they had documentation of the money his family had already given her, but he couldn't use it. Revealing the loophole would only open it to exploitation, make it even harder than it already was for poor women and women in bad relationships that had children to be able to afford to get out. And Ralph always prioritized the Greater Good.

He knocked, heard a faint "Ralph?" and when he answered in the affirmative was told to come in. Bri was sitting in a chair, the baby in her lap, steadied with one hand as her fingers slid over the touch screen on her phone. She had always been startlingly fast at texting one handed. "I was just gonna ask where you were."

"Sorry. They had to check my blood pressure and stuff one more time before they would discharge me."

"You're okay now?"

He nodded. "You manage to get any sleep?"

"Some. I feel so gross, though."

Ralph shrugged. "I can't relate, obviously, but my mom definitely says the same thing."

"I can't imagine anyone actually sitting at home with their spouse or whatever and going yeah, let's do this." Bri gestured. "You can hold him."

Ralph would rather not, but he didn't want to come off as  _totally_  insensitive. He took the newborn from Brianna. "Have you named him?"

"No. I wanted to let you have a say."

"I don't need a say, Bri." He adjusted his grip. The baby didn't complain. "I don't want a say. Name him whatever you'd like."

"No. I'm not denying you the opportunity to have input in the name of your own son."

"He's my son biologically. That's all. You're the one that's going to raise him, so you name him."

Bri hesitated, as if thrown off by something he had said. "What…what was going to be your sister's name if she was a boy?"

 _Nope_.  _You don't get to use that name._  "I'm not sure," he lied.

"I like the name Henry. I like the name Sawyer, and Alexander, and Benjamin. I like a lot of names. Do you like any of those?"

"Bri, you're not going to trick me into picking his name."

Bri cocked her head. "How does it feel to hold him?"

Ralph sighed. "He's not fussy. That's nice, if he stays that way."

"You…you don't feel anything at all  _extra_?" There was a slight tremor in her voice, as if she had had confidence that was faltering.

If he was being totally honest with her, Ralph thought, the answer was no. The way he felt with this child in his arms was night and day to the way holding Amber made him feel. He had a love for his sister. Holding this baby felt no different than if he had just been asked to hold a stranger's baby while she dug through her purse for bus fare.

He supposed, in a way, he was holding a stranger's baby. He'd gotten with Bri when they were both too young to know what they wanted, and he wasn't sure how early into the relationship she'd begun putting on the front that would allow the entire team to be fooled by her, but he doubted he ever truly knew her. Not in the way you would expect people in a serious relationship to know each other.

He realized he hadn't answered her. So he shrugged.

"I think he looks like you," she said.

Ralph could see it – sort of. The face shape was right. The ears were right. But overall, he thought the baby was much closer in appearance to his mother.

"I, uh, I did want to talk to you about something," she said. "Mina kinda hinted at it when I was in labor. I think she thought I was gonna talk to you beforehand."

Ralph had in fact been curious about what that was about, but he sure as Hell wasn't going to tell her that. "Okay." He set the baby back into the bassinet. "What's going on?"

"These past months, going through this alone, it's been hard sometimes," Bri said. "But I knew everything was going to be okay because one thing you promised me, back in our first months together, was that members of a cyclone always have each other's back. I know I treated you and the others pretty badly. But I never stopped loving you. You know that, right?"

"You have an awfully interesting way of expressing love if that's the case."

"After everything, I wouldn't be standing here wanting to patch things up unless I was very naïve or very self – intuitive," she pointed out. "I like to believe it's the latter."

 _Patch things up._ "You're…you're asking me if we can patch things up? As in…if we can get back together?"

Bri hesitated, as if surprised at his apparent confusion. "Well…of course. I mean…I – I just had our baby, and I'm apologizing, and..."

"Your baby. You just had  _your_  baby. I told you from the start I wanted nothing to do with that."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Ralph…" She paused. "I know…I really do know how much pain I caused you all. But I was being an idiot. Your dad was an idiot. What if your mother hadn't wanted to get back together with him?"

"The reason they broke up and the reason we did is apples and oranges," Ralph said. "You were obsessed with checking my phone, you guilted me into all sorts of crap, you made me feel bad for you whenever we fought and I always caved because I thought that's what good men did. I gave you my heart and my backbone and didn't realize I was allowed to take them back. Then even beyond us - you deliberately deceived everyone in my life and used Scorpion as your personal piggy bank. I hope you're not forgetting that Florence literally almost died trying to claw us out of it. You're not my dad. Because you did things maliciously, and you didn't even care."

"You're right. I didn't. But I do now. What about second chances? What about learning a lesson?"

"If you've really changed," Ralph began, doubting it, "then I'm proud of you, but – "

"Proud of me? Come on, Ralph. Don't be condescending."

" _But_ ," he continued pointedly, "that doesn't entitle you to a relationship with me. I didn't realize this when we were together, but I actually get a say in things, too."

"Of course you do."

"And I'm saying no."

"No?" Bri's voice was small. "You mean like…like forever?"

Ralph nodded. "This ship has sailed." He hesitated briefly. "I'll help you with him. I'll give you some money if that's what I need to do, but only because he deserves clean diapers and a car seat and vaccinations and all that. But I don't want to see you. I don't want to be involved that way. I've told you that from the start, and just because we conceived a baby doesn't mean I should be expected to be in a relationship with you. We didn't work, Bri. We didn't work before and we wouldn't work now. And that's one thing you can't take me to court for. No one can rule that I have to date you again."

The baby started to fuss. Bri put her hands up, covering her breasts and turning slightly pink in the cheeks. The second day was early for first time moms, but Ralph supposed that after the long labor, perhaps her milk coming in early was apropos, a tiny victory, because the sooner this happened, the sooner she wouldn't ache anymore. "Excuse me," she said, turning away.

Ralph wondered if he should tell her that the leaking in response to stimuli relating to her newborn was normal, or if calling attention to it would just embarrass her more. He decided against it. "Shouldn't you…he's crying…" He wasn't sure if the baby was hungry, tired, or just wanted to be held. But Brianna wasn't making a move to figure it out.

"He'll live," she said shortly, still facing away from Ralph. The baby continued to fuss, his noises turning to full on cries.  _For Pete's sake_ , he thought, reaching in and taking him back out. Bringing the child to his chest, he rocked and bounced carefully, hoping to sooth him into silence.

Bri looked at him over her shoulder. "Maybe I didn't have a c – section," she said, "but I still have all these stupid marks."

Ralph wanted to tell her that stretch marks weren't stupid, and that his mother was proud of hers. But again, he wasn't confident enough to speak.

"Damn stretch marks, varicose veins, all this gross stuff that will never go away," she continued. "And I don't even have you." Her voice cracked. Ralph looked over in alarm. He hadn't expected that. Bri put a hand up to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I just really thought…"

"You still have him."

Bri looked at the baby with a complete lack of interest. "I don't want him."

Ralph had always been hoping his suspicions about this had been wrong. "What?"

"I don't want him. Not if you aren't going to be around. He's only given me pain and heartache. Every time I look at him I'm just going to see you, and remember how you don't want me and how you don't care." She folded her arms, turning back to face him. "I shouldn't have even gone through with the pregnancy. I had to take time off of work. My body will never be the same. I lost friends and family. And now I'm sore and I'm pretty sure I'm ruined down there and I have years of being sleep deprived and shit and vomited on to look forward to."

Ralph wanted to remind her that she'd had the choice.

"I wouldn't have done it at all if I knew there was…no…" she paused, her voice cracking again. "No chance for us."

"You brought a kid into the world," Ralph said. "You made that call. On your own. I didn't push you one way or the other. And you did that all for a  _chance_  that I would magically fall back in love with you? I told you from the start we were done for good – even before we found out about him. Did you think of him at all in all this? Of what kind of world he's a part of? He's going to grow up knowing his mother doesn't want him, that he only exists because of her pipe dream of getting back with someone she used and abused. I'm the one who gets accused of not knowing the consequences of my actions, but you didn't even have the foresight to think  _hey, maybe it's not fair to the baby for me to use it as a pawn_."

"Oh. So now you care about the baby."

"Of course I do," he snapped. "I would care about anyone being used like that. And hey, I can actually  _relate_ to him in that sense."

"I said I was sorry!"

"And I said," Ralph reminded her firmly, "that I appreciate your apology, but that doesn't make me want to be with you again." He wanted to tell her that if she had in fact changed, she would find someone someday. She would be happy. But he also knew that that could come off as extremely condescending., so he held it back.

He also doubted that she'd changed. This felt like real emotion, but he'd thought that before. So many times before. "It is not fair to this baby that you brought him into the world for a reason like that. He doesn't deserve to be a bargaining chip."  _And now he's either going to grow up in foster care or with a mother who never wanted him. What a shitty hand he's been dealt._

"I just…I always thought you'd want me again." Bri crumpled onto the bed and put her face in her hands. She was crying. Ralph knew, given the context, he was the wrong person to try and comfort her.

"Wait here, Bri." He put the little boy back in his bassinet and went to find Mina. He hoped he could find her quickly.

He really, really wanted his mom. And even more so now than before, he knew how lucky he was that he had someone like her.


	52. Chapter 52

Paige could tell by the look on Ralph's face when he entered her room that the visit with Brianna could have gone better. "Oh hon," she said. "I'm sorry. We'll get it figured out."

Ralph's eyes met hers for only a moment before they adjusted down to Amber. "Can I hold her?" He asked.

"She's your sister, of course you can hold her," Paige said with a smile, adjusting her hand position on Amber so she could hand her off safely. Ralph gathered her close, and Paige smiled, a rush of warmth in her chest as she watched her son hold her daughter.

"She looks like a little Walter," Ralph said. "She doesn't have his butt chin, though, thank God."

"Aw, I think that's cute."

He looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. "You have to. You married him."

"Maybe that's why I married him."

"Mom," Ralph said in a stage whisper, "he isn't here. You don't have to pretend."

Paige chuckled. "So is it weird that you're not an only child anymore?"

"Yes," Ralph said. "But you know…" he looked down at Amber, an affectionate smile on his face. "I like it."

"Good."

Ralph looked so peaceful holding his baby sister, but the mood didn't last. Paige watched as his face fell and he looked up at her solemnly. "Mom, things are really bad down the hall."

Paige took Amber back and set her in the bassinet. "Talk to me."

"She doesn't want the baby, Mom." Ralph pushed his hand up over his forehead and into his hair. "She told me. She said if we aren't going to be together, she doesn't want anything to do with me at all, and that includes the baby."

Paige set her jaw and blinked. " _What_?"

"I…" he shook his head. "I'm so angry. I'm so angry." He looked away, shaking his head. "At least I was up front about my feelings about this whole thing. She didn't even think about the baby, just wanted to try and keep me under her control."

"That bitch," Paige said under her breath. "That bitch, I'll kill her."

"Mom, easy," Ralph said, putting his hand on her arm.

Paige sighed. Of course he had to know she wasn't  _really_  going to take Brianna out, but she hadn't given someone a good yelling in a while, and her son's ex was certainly giving her good ammunition. "Do you have any idea of what you're going to do?"

Ralph shrugged. "I mean, I'm not taking him, she doesn't want him. Adoption seems like the only option."

"Well," Paige said. "It does say 'option' right in the word, there."

Ralph gave a small smile. "That it does."

"Is that what she's gonna do?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "That's my guess. I guess."

Paige felt the sudden urge to hug him. She was pleased when he didn't protest. "Oh, baby," she whispered. "I know you're an adult now, but I still wish I could make this all work out for you."

"Thanks," he said, putting his hand up to rest on one of her wrists. "Honestly, I wish you could too," he added with a little laugh. "But like you said." He sighed. "I'm an adult now."

"You are. But you'll always be my baby, you know that? Because I'll always be your mom."

* * *

Happy was struggling to keep her annoyance to a low simmer as Ralph explained the new situation, sitting on the edge of the coffee table because for some reason they were  _still_  hanging out in the hospital.

Okay. That wasn't fair. They all had agreed to stay, wanted to stay, didn't want to abandon anyone else in their cyclone and leave them to face whatever might come. Ralph was the youngest of the adult members, and his parents were understandably not able to focus on his predicament. Plus, Ellie was sound asleep and waking her up would make her scream, and Tad was off with Aimee and Allie and Cabe, so it wasn't like they were in a position to go back home.

But this chair hurt and she was tired of cafeteria food and while she knew Paige was doing her job as a mother to try to guide and support her son through a complicated situation, none of these people knew the struggles of being a surrendered child as much as she did. "Right," she said in response to Ralph's explanation that Brianna was probably going to give the baby up, "because adoption is just a magic, kumbaya solution to everything."

"Babe," Toby said, putting a hand on her arm in warning. "Brianna was the one who decided to keep the pregnancy, not Ralph."

"I'm frustrated at the situation, not at Ralph," Happy said shortly. She looked at Ralph. "Seriously, kid. Just in being annoyed about this you already care more about the kid than she does. I just  _hate_  when people act like adoption is some magic, happy solution. You know that only about thirteen percent of kids in foster care get adopted? You know that the average time spent in foster care is three years? Three. Years. And that number is skewed because some kids only spend a few weeks while a parent gets a home situation figured out." She pressed her lips together and shook her head. "It's expensive to adopt, and not as many people are looking to as others seem to think." Happy could feel her heart beating faster, as if fighting against the invisible fist that was closing around it. "I aged out of the system. Sometimes kids spend all eighteen years in it. It's lonely. It's depressing. Abuse is everywhere." She paused, not wanting her voice to crack. "It was never ending fear that no one would ever care about me. And for the longest time, no one did. I'm happy for the lucky ones. But I wouldn't wish the fate of the unlucky on my worst enemy."

"Maybe he will get lucky," Toby said, clearly trying to be helpful. "After all, people love adopting babies. Especially chubby, smiley white babies."

"Are you bringing up the racism inherent in the system to make me feel  _better_?"

"In this situation specifically."

"I just wish I could know where he ends up," Ralph said. "I don't want any contact. I know where Bri is coming from in the sense of looking at him or hearing about him reminding her of me. Every time I see him, I would think of her, and she makes me so…"

"You were hospitalized," Toby said when the boy trailed off, "you don't need to find a word for us to get it."

"But like…I don't want to just throw him out into the world. But if he stays with her, then he's going to grow up..." Ralph put his head in his hands. "At least if he's adopted out he can fantasize. Maybe his mom had to give him up, maybe she wanted him but was in a bad situation, maybe she just couldn't take care of him...he grows up around her and he will know she doesn't care. She's horrible at hiding that sort of thing."

Happy reached out and patted his knee. "We'll figure something out, Ralph. There's enough of us. Our combined I.Q. is over one thousand. Not a lot of people can say that."

"This isn't the stuff we're good at," Ralph said. He sighed, his voice low, almost inaudible. "How'd I ever get myself in this mess?"

"You picked a bad one," Toby said. "We've all done that."

"Yeah," Ralph said, sounding dejected. "My mom's bad one was my father. But there's no My Mom in this scenario."

"There's no Paige Dineen in most scenarios," Happy said. "I'd have given anything to have my mom in my life, and if she was a tenth as wonderful of a parent as yours…there would have been a lot less pain in my life." She realized as she spoke the words that she may have ended up on a drastically different path had her parents raised her together. "Although," she suddenly felt the need to add, resting her hand on top of Toby's, "less happiness too, I'm sure." She bit her lip. "If only there was some way to ensure this little boy goes somewhere where he will be as loved as I grew up wanting to be."

"As loved as much as Tad is," Ralph said. "I may not love him myself, but I know he deserves to be loved like that."

* * *

You know," Sylvester said, pulling his shirt back over his head, "I have snuck into high security administration buildings and into the offices of foreign leaders  _and_  into rooms filled with engineered diseases, and I don't think any of that is as crazy as what we just did."

"Nah," Florence said, "there is nothing  _less_  risky than getting it on in a hospital room. It's the cleanest place I can think of. Where the hell are my pants?"

"Uh…" Sylvester glanced around. "I…threw them…somewhere."

"Really helpful, Dodd. The longer we're in here, the greater our chances of getting caught."

"This was your idea."

Florence gave an incredulous laugh. "No, it wasn't!"

"Yes!" He pointed at her in a mock accusatory way. "Yes, yes it was!"

"No," she said, adjusting her bra, "I said I was glad I was no longer menstruating and mentioned how crazy it was that two people we know had babies within a day of each other and then you jumped me."

"I did not jump you. I kissed you in the heat of the moment."

"And considering what you are defining  _the moment_  was us discussing the fact that I'm no longer bleeding out my genitals and that Paige just pushed a human out of hers, two decidedly unsexy things, you were the one coming on to me."

Sylvester rolled his eyes. "Then explain why you took off…your pants!"

"Kinda hard to desecrate a hospital room like we did if I don't take off my pants."

"No, I mean…" he trailed off, holding up the clothing that he'd missed earlier. "I found your pants."

"Oh. Excellent." Florence took them, sliding off of the bed to pull them back up over her hips. "You know what's great?" She asked.

"Hmmm?"

"This isn't even a bed you're supposed to do that on, I haven't slept much in the past few days…"

"You're not aching or tired?"

She grinned. "Exactly. I feel incredible. Maybe I'm just about completely better."

"Well, uh…" Sylvester suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Then…then we might have a decision to make."

Florence cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't taken your pill since the bomb, right?"

Florence stared. "Ohhh."

They held the eye contact, standing completely still just a few feet apart. Florence spoke first. "Well, I have a day or two to get…"

"Yeah. You have time. If you – "

"If I want to take it," she finished.

More silence. More staring.

Then, quickly and almost out of nowhere, Florence took a step closer to him. "I don't want to take it."

He nodded slowly."Do…do you want, do you think…"

"I don't know. But I know that my heart did the…" he made a fluttering motion with his hand, "did the thing when you said you didn't want to."

"So are we…"

"I don't think we should. We shouldn't try yet. But if this…by some chance…"

He nodded, quickly this time. "If by some chance."

"We can't tell the team. Someone will suggest if we're open to becoming parents now we should just adopt the boy."

He wrinkled his nose. "Who would suggest that?"

"I don't know. Cabe. Toby. Walter. Someone who likes things wrapped up neatly." She checked the room. It appeared, relatively, as they had found it. Sylvester held the door for her as they slipped out into the hall.

"I don't want Brianna Schultz's baby," Sylvester said. "I almost lost the woman I love because of her."

"I like how you're talking to me and decided to describe me instead of just saying  _you_ ," Florence said. "I get it. And I don't want to subject Ralph to the anxiety of having him around all the time. Anxiety is a demon I didn't fully understand until I knew you, and I can still only imagine what it must be like, but…"

"I just wonder how any of us are going to be able to guarantee he goes somewhere good."

"Actually…"

Florence and Sylvester turned in unison toward the voice. Allie walked toward them, a smile on her face. "I couldn't help but overhear. Okay, I was eavesdropping. But anyway, I think I may have a solution."


	53. Chapter 53

"Look at how Tad and Ellie play with Aimee," Toby commented. They had gone home the previous night, but Paige was being discharged later that day and the team all wanted to be there to help if need be. In reality, it was highly unlikely the parents would require the assistance of six more people. But that was how they worked. They were Scorpion. They stuck together.

The children had been delighted to see Aimee again. Ellie had only 'met' the older woman once, when she was barely one year old, and Tad had only been a year or so older. But as Aimee and Tad sat cross legged on the floor in front of one of the skill building toys in the children's section, Ellie on her back with her head tipped back, watching them with her tongue out, it was obvious even to Happy that the boy recognized that something tied him to the stoic looking woman with graying hair. "He hasn't lived with her since he was just a few months old," Happy said.

"You remember every bit of your father leaving you," Toby said gently. "He's younger, but I think he knows that he used to be hers, at least in the care sense."

"Stop talking, Toby," Happy said, only half joking. "You're gonna make me jealous."

"Pssssh." He slid his arm around her and squeezed her against him. "She was never his mother. You are the only mother he's ever known, anyway."

"I'm glad that she's been able to see how happy he is," she said. "God, I wish we could have been there the day Florence handed him off to Cabe. He could have died that afternoon and we weren't even there."

She got like this, sometimes. They didn't even know Tad then, the teams were in two, and they were busy struggling through their own – ultimately failed – mission in another state entirely. They hadn't failed their son by not being there. But the one downside to seeing Aimee again – who had lost her own son that day – was Happy felt like they'd somehow been terrible parents to someone they  _weren't_  yet parents to.

"I hope if Bri's baby ends up in foster care," Toby said, "which it's looking like he will, that he will have someone as wonderful as Aimee to look after him."

"Shame she doesn't foster anymore." Happy rested her head on Toby's shoulder. "Think she might know someone?"

She felt Toby nod. "Allie was talking to her yesterday. She – Aimee – definitely has a wide circle. She might."

"Well," Happy said, watching Tad laugh and clap his hands at something the older woman had said, "we can hope, anyway."

* * *

"Hey, kiddo."

Ralph jumped, realizing as he whirled to face Florence that he'd been standing in front of the vending machine for the better part of ten minutes. "I didn't know anyone was still here." His mom and dad had left the hospital…probably near an hour ago now. He was waiting to see if there were any developments on Shultz front before leaving himself – but the others didn't need to stay."

"Happy and Toby left about twenty minutes ago. Sylvester and I had to meet with the security team on this floor."

He cocked his head. "Wait, why?"

"Well, turns out there are cameras in the adult patient rooms, but also turns out that they are solely focused on the bed itself and not on the counter top, so they and we disagree on why Sly and I spent some time in one yesterday. It's a long story."

Ralph raised his eyebrows. "You know, I'm a grown man and I really don't think it's that long of a story." He smirked. "I gotta admit, I would have expected that more from Happy and Toby. So are you in trouble or what?"

"Nope. Can't prove anything. No audio. All they can prove is I appeared to sit on the edge of the bed without my jeans on for a few minutes while talking to someone off screen."

"And you could have had your pants off for any G rated reason."

"Exactly."

"Florence?"

"Hmm?"

"Remember when we joked about you being pregnant and you said you couldn't wait until I was eighteen to flip me off?"

"I recall something to that effect, yes."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but if me being eighteen means you tell me when you have your pants off, I would like to cancel my subscription to adulthood."

Florence gave a little laugh. "Sorry. Team Scorpion is obnoxiously candid sometimes and I fear I have acquired that symptom. So, you're not going back to the condo?"

"I want to give my parents some time with Amber. I know they want the four of us to have some bonding time too, but with everything on my end still so uncertain, I just need to be away from babies, at least for tonight. I'm spending the night at Patty's. Brianna should be able to be discharged tomorrow, but we still don't know what's going to happen with the baby. I can't even talk about it with her; I've tried since she told me she didn't want him and we just end up screaming at each other."

"Allie has a plan," Florence said quietly. "It's a good plan. Solid. But she made us promise to not tell anyone until there's a good chance it might actually happen; she doesn't want to get hopes up."

"Did she say it was okay to drop these massive hints?" Ralph asked.

"I mean," Florence said, "she didn't say it  _wasn't_ , although to be fair I don't think she considered this angle."

"And you're not gonna secretly tell me because we're friends?"

Florence folded her arms and cocked her head. " _Are_  we friends, though, kid? Sure we get along, but would you really classify it as  _friends_?"

Ralph considered that a moment. "Fair point. Wait." He narrowed his eyes. "You said that Allie made  _us_  promise not to tell. Someone else knows."

"No…t necessarily."

Ralph snapped his fingers. "Someone else knows and I'm gonna find out who. The only other person who can keep a secret like you can is Happy, so you wouldn't be so alarmed that I know someone else knows. If Allie doesn't want me to know, she wouldn't want my parents to get their hopes up, either. She would have told Cabe separate from you, which means either Toby or Sylvester also has this information. And you're far more likely to be with the latter." He cleared his throat. "Hey, Florence, any idea where Sly is?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha. You're not fooling me into telling you anything. Hey!" She said in surprise when Ralph darted after her. Dammit. Even as good as she felt today, she wasn't going to be able to keep up if the scorpling started running down the hall.

Sylvester had better keep his mouth shut.

She opened her phone and selected his name. The last text exchange between them had been heart emojis. She was  _married_  to the man and she still didn't understand what it was about him that made her want to receive – much less return – heart emjois.

_Ralph is looking for you. Do not tell him what Allie said. Remember._

The response came almost immediately.

_These lips? Fort Knox._

Florence smiled, then furrowed her brow.

_Didn't you guys break into Fort Knox once?_

* * *

"And we are officially home," Paige said with a smile at Walter as she shuffled by him, Amber in her arms. She supposed that they could have very easily left the newborn in her carrier, but she felt a need to physically carry the baby into the condo. Maybe it was because of that night eighteen years ago almost to the day when Drew had carried Ralph into their tiny apartment, secure in his baby seat, because Paige had torn and then fallen the next morning, injuring her arm and adding on to her weight restrictions. In her defense, she'd only fallen because she was trying to get out of bed too fast to continue cussing out the doctor who had tried – and failed, but had tried relentlessly – to get her to consent to a husband stitch. "Fucking chauvinist," she muttered.

Walter closed the door with a quiet click and turned in her direction. "Hmmm?"

"Oh, nothing," she said. "Just enjoying the year we live in."

"I sense that has additional meaning to it that I'm not understanding," he said. A smile came over his face. "I want to say that I cannot believe we're home, but that is a nonsense statement. Of course we are home. Where else would we go?"

She rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. "You're so cute. Amber gets it from you."

"No, no," Walter said, wagging his finger playfully as he walked toward them. "All her beauty comes from her mother." He placed a hand on the back of Paige's neck and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I love you."

Paige opened her mouth to reciprocate, but Amber began crying suddenly at the exact moment, making it seem as if the noise was coming from Paige. She and Walter both laughed. "She's probably hungry," Paige said.

"I can unpack the bag while you feed her."

"No," Paige said, bumping her hip lightly against his. "Come with me, you can help."

He cocked his head. "How?"

"Just come with me." Paige headed down the hall, turning right into their bedroom, Walter following behind. She set Amber down on her back, shushing her gently, then straightened up and pulled off her shirt and bra. Her belly still looked six months pregnant, but she didn't care as much this time as she did when Ralph had been born. Her body didn't have to look conventionally attractive for her to love it. She loved it because it was where her children had come from. She loved it because it was where she lived.

"Sit up against the headboard," Paige instructed Walter, crawling onto the mattress and picking Amber back up. She scooted up between his knees, sitting with her back against his chest, and lifted Amber to one of her breasts. "Now help me hold her." Walter's arms eased around her. Paige kept a hand on Amber's back, an instinct she couldn't fight, but Walter was the one keeping the girl in position. Amber latched on almost immediately.

"That doesn't hurt anymore?" he asked.

"It does a little," Paige admitted. "But not too bad. It's starting to come in heavier, so I'll try to pump in the morning. Then you can feed her even when I'm not around."

"I like this," he said in a low voice, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I could stay like this."

"Me, too," she said softly, tipping her head to the side. "God," she said in a near whisper, "Walter, I didn't think I could love you more than I already did." She took a deep breath, a warmth in her chest. She gave Amber a slight squeeze. "Thank you. For her. For making me a mother again."

"I should be thanking you," he said. "For you, for Ralph, and now for Amber."

"You did," Paige reminded him. "Those wedding vows that made me cry."

"Amber was not included in those vows."

"I wish I had known, somehow," Walter said. "But as much as I was feeling that day, nothing could have prepared me for what all of this feels like." He kissed her cheek. "I struggle with words, when to say which ones and in what order, but I feel certain there are none to accurately describe this."

"I think the best way to describe it is to acknowledge that it can't be described," Paige said. "You know, like theoretical physics."

"You are very attractive when you use science examples."

She gave him a small, mischievous smile. "Well, I'll come up with some good ones to use in four to six weeks when you can act on that attraction again."

Amber detached and made a face, tears welling up in her eyes. "Easy, sweetheart," Paige said, patting her back. "We'll get you to bed."

"Let me bring it in here," Walter said, easing out from behind her. The crib had been left in the kitchen. Paige nodded to him, bouncing and whispering to Amber until he returned. She lay her carefully on her back, running a finger affectionately through the fine hair. "Walter, grab the little music box and set it on two," she said. "Sylvester says the melody and frequencies on that one will make sleeping most effective."

"I somehow always forget that he is musically inclined," Walter commented, switching the noise machine on. "Ah, I can see how this could be soothing."

Paige, undid the tie on her sweatpants. "I feel so gross and all I want to do is take everything off to sleep, but I can't because of this damn pad."

"I can't either, because you keep it so cold in here."

"Hey," Paige said, picking her pants up off the floor and swatting at him, careful to keep her voice low, "you try being pregnant and sleeping at the temperature you normally like it at."

Walter grinned. Paige climbed into bed, stretching out on top of the covers. Despite not being able to be free of her clothing, she was the most comfortable she had been in months.

"Come here," Walter said, scooting over next to her. "Close your eyes and relax."

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Helping you relax."

Paige wanted to remind him,  _four to six weeks_ , but he knew, she trusted him, and it soon became clear that that wasn't what he was doing. His lips were on her, as were his hands, but they didn't venture anywhere that he couldn't touch in public, didn't squeeze or scratch. He knew how much his touch calmed her, and as he kept touching her, gently and innocently, she felt the stress leave her body as Amber's music floated through the air.

There was so much still to figure out. But not tonight.


	54. Chapter 54

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, I am alive. And for my final author's note on this story, I have an apology and an expression of gratitude.
> 
> First, the apology. I vanished from this site for the better part of two weeks, without reading or writing. It wasn't intentional. I had assumed when I published the previous chapter last Tuesday that I'd be concluding this fic or updating something else – or even publishing something new – within 48 hours. But Tuesday night was a bit of a turning point in my life, completely unexpectedly. I went, fairly spur of the moment, to the theater to see Wicked in Detroit, a show I've seen bootlegs of and was already familiar with but had never seen live. And the long and the short of it is it's always been a show that makes me sad at the end, because of the characters who will never see each other again, but while watching it I thought to myself, you can tell these women are super close in real life. And it made me…less sad about the way the story ends, because what's real is better than what's fiction. And in an instant, that snapped me out of the funk I've been in since Scorpion was cancelled. I'm still sad about it, but it doesn't consume me. I spent days without even thinking about fanfic, which is something I haven't done in years. I'm still going to write, I'm sure, and I'm certainly still going to read, but I don't think I'm going to have to rely on it as much anymore.
> 
> On to the gratitude. I said when this fic started that there would be content some wouldn't like, and indeed, I got all sorts of threats, both of the "I will never read you again" variety (bye) or of the "I wish I could cause your death" variety (yikes). I greatly appreciate all of you who kept reading anyway despite potentially worrying about where I was going to take this or that. Writing this fic has been so incredibly fun, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading it even a tenth as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
> 
> And now, long ass author's note over, on to the concluding segments.

"Hey."

Ralph had thought that Bri saw him approach, but at her jump he realized he was wrong. "Sorry. Wasn't trying to scare you."

"No worries," Bri said. "I was just…lost in my thoughts, I guess."

Ralph nodded. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Physically? Terrible. Mentally? Just as bad, honestly."

"Where's…" Ralph looked around, even though with Bri's arms and the basket being empty there was really nowhere else for the baby to be. "Where is he?"

"A social worker took him," Bri said. "I guess they're trying to figure out what they're going to do."

"Did they talk to you about the process at all?"

"They went over it all. I just told them I'll sign whatever they need me to sign. They might want you to do something too, I dunno."

"Okay. Whatever you need."

Bri's eyes dropped to the floor. She wrung her hands, lightly tapping her foot. "I've already destroyed my chance at what I need."

Ralph sighed. "If you're trying to guilt me into being with you again, it's not going to – "

"I'm not guilting you into anything," Bri said shortly. "I'm just expressing it. I love you. I've fucked up my chance with you. And it makes me  _sad_. I know you think everything is a trick but I'm just  _talking_ , okay?"

Ralph held up his hands. "Fine. Fine. But when you've been hit enough times you're gonna flinch when someone lifts an arm regardless of their intention. I'm head shy now and there's really no magical way to stop that."

"I'm sorry." Bri shook her head, slowly, her expression both incredulous and sad. "I just can't imagine life without you."

"I really don't know what to say to that, Brianna." Ralph shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Did you…" There was pain on her face. "Did you love me? Back then? Was it real at all?"

Ralph opened his mouth, then closed it again. The response on his tongue was  _yes_. Yes, of course he loved her when they were together, up until he found out what she'd done, which led him to realize how manipulative she had been all along.  _So did I really love her? Or was it a combination of the manipulation being attached to one's first serious relationship?_  Suddenly he was doubting the answer he had been so sure of just seconds before.

"Don't," Bri said, holding her hand up before he could say anything. "I don't think either answer would make me feel better."

* * *

 Ralph always knew that Paige was an incredible mother – one that everyone deserved to have – but going directly from seeing Brianna to frozen yogurt with her made the contrast all the more sharp. She had just given birth a couple of days ago, her newborn was at home with her husband, and yet here she was, making cheerful small talk with Olivia while their desserts were weighed and rung up, because somehow she knew this – all of this, every last little detail of this – was exactly what her other child needed, and Amber being so much younger didn't mean she was more important.  Her oldest needed time with her, and she was more than willing to give it.

"I haven't had froyo in so long," she remarked as they sat down in one of the booths.

"You and I haven't gone out and done anything together in a long time, either," Ralph remarked. "It's crazy how busy adulthood is."

"And you have been a busy guy for a long time already," Paige said. "At the age you were when you started helping Scorpion, I was reluctantly running scams with Veronica. And at the age you are now, well…" she gave a dry laugh. "I was skipping out on my voice lessons to watch your father pitch."

"Well, we all make mistakes," he joked.

"We even called ourselves Pitch Squared," she said, shaking her head. "You know, he was a pitcher, and I had perfect pitch."

Ralph couldn't help but laugh. "You never told me that."

"By the time you came along I was far too embarrassed to tell  _anyone_  that," she pointed out. "God, I was ridiculous at your age."

"We're all ridiculous at my age, to be fair." Ralph took a bite of his dessert. "Ugh, this hits the spot."

"Agreed."

"So," he said, "what's the cute nickname for you and Walter? I mean, other than Toby calling you Waige."

"We don't have a nickname," Paige said. "Those are juvenile."

Ralph raised his eyebrow. "Come on, I know you. You would hate that you and Drew had one and not you and Walter. That's the whole reason we have Amber, right?"

Paige rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

"Spill, Mom."

Pink appeared in Paige's cheek. "Fine. We're Salty Sweet. Although who is Salty and who is Sweet kinda depends on the day."

"Give and take. That's very healthy in a relationship. You go, Mom."

She laughed. "You know, when you were born, I hoped you would grow up to be my friend. I'm glad you did."

"I'm glad you're my friend, too" Ralph smiled. "It's much easier, and nicer, when you're in a family that wants you."

"Agreed." Paige slowly ran the spoon through her lips. "Not to ruin the light mood here, but you said when we were in line that a social worker is looking at Bri's baby?"

"Yeah. I guess they feel pretty confident they have someone to adopt him, but they don't want to tell us until…"

"Wait, adopt? Not just take into a foster home?"

"I'm sure she said it wrong. There's no way anyone would be adopting him yet, not unless it was someone who knew him and wanted him specifically and Bri and I would basically give him to them. And we know that none of us are taking him." Ralph shrugged. "It would be nice if it were true, though. I hate the idea of him languishing somewhere he doesn't want to be. Or just somewhere he doesn't feel like he belongs."

Paige grew quiet. Ralph could tell that she was thinking about something very specific, and he also knew what it was. "Mom…"

"You're not going to stay in Los Angeles, are you, baby?"

He took in a breath. In his defense, he hadn't been keeping this from her. It had all been arranged in the past day or so, and they both had had other things on their minds. "Patty is starting school with the summer semester – late May. She got an apartment – two bedroom was all that was left – and I think I'm going to go up there with her, at least for a while. Apparently they're always hiring people to do computer repair, it is a set your own hours kind of deal and since I wouldn't be going to school, I could come home whenever I wanted or when Scorpion had a big case." He reached out and put his hand on his mother's arm. "Mom, I'm not running. I just need some space."

Paige pressed her lips together. She drew in a long breath and nodded slowly on the exhale. "Okay. I understand."

"You do?"

"Yeah." She got up to throw away her froyo bowl, and Ralph followed her. "Or I guess I should say…I always understood. I can't keep you next to me forever. I guess what I'm saying now is I accept it. That that time has come." She reached out and touched the tip of her finger to Ralph's nose. "You'll be here with us until May?"

"You will see so much of me until May that you'll be glad when I go."

Paige bit her lip, reaching out and pulling Ralph close to her. "I know you're joking," she said in a low, heavy voice, "but it's not funny."

* * *

 Since Allie had come to join Team Scorpion – at least by proximity – what felt like forever ago now, she knew she had contributed to their accomplishments. To their family. It was undeniable, even if the arrival of Florence Tipton mere months after her full acceptance into the group had pushed any usefulness she had in chemistry off to the side. Scorpion made it very clear who was welcome into their little group and who was an outsider, and Allie knew she was the former. But of the nine of them, she was the only one who contributed by cooking, or by organizing parties, as opposed to doing anything significant to hold the family together.

 _You do so much,_  Toby had told her once.  _People like you help us keep our sanity, and that's invaluable._

She knew he was right. But she was also incredibly pleased with what she was finally allowed to announce to the group.

"Hey, guys?" She said, slight hesitance in her voice. They were all at Walter and Paige's place, eating and chatting and cooing over baby Amber. Currently, the baby was in Ellie's lap, who was in turn in Happy's.

Everyone looked up. Allie had never been post – partum and she knew it wasn't pleasant, but her eyes fell on Paige resting in a giant beanbag chair that Sylvester had brought over and was almost jealous. "I have something to announce. A few of you already know this. I let Ralph know earlier this evening and surprisingly he had not gotten it out of Sylvester yet." She smirked to herself as Sylvester lifted his hand toward his wife for a high five, and she rolled her eyes before obliging him. "Ralph came with me to the hospital and everything is finalized, just a few more hoops to jump through, and, well, I'm getting ahead of myself."

"Just a little," Cabe said, looking at her curiously.

"Okay." Allie put her hands together. "We all know that two babies were born this week. Amber is with us. The little boy was born in very different circumstances. The parent who claimed to want him ultimately was using him in an attempt to manipulate our Ralph. She's young. I don't want to speak ill of her. But Ralph came to me and asked if I had any idea of anyone who might want to adopt him, so he wouldn't have to go into foster care and join the queue of hundreds of thousands of children waiting to find their families." Allie wiped her eye. "Well, I found someone. And it's someone we all know. Someone who has experience raising children who aren't her own, but who had a son, once. He's no longer here. A few of you met him once."

She could tell by the look on Cabe's face that he had suddenly joined the group of them that knew where she was going with this. She smiled at him before continuing. "She's older now, but women older than her have taken in children, and she has a reputation in the community that will help speed the process along – pulling some strings, if you will. Aimee Tracker is going to adopt the boy."

Happy's jaw dropped. The others looked varying degrees of amazed. "Oh my God," Paige said, putting a hand to her mouth and looking over at her son. "That's perfect."

"I know," Ralph said with a smile. "When she told me, it felt almost too good to be true."

"She's going to name him Caleb," Allie continued. "Her late son, Lane, had had that as his boy name, if he ever had children of his own. Brianna and Ralph don't want to be in his life, but both have agreed to his file being opened when he turns eighteen, if he gets curious and wants to know where he came from."

Walter was sitting on the floor next to the bean bag chair. He took his wife's hand and squeezed it. Paige looked like she was struggling not to cry.

"So we know he will be in safe hands," Allie concluded.

"That's amazing," Toby said, looking down at Amber and then back to Allie. "You're a miracle worker."

She blushed. "Well. I can try, at least."

"Ralph," Paige said, slight sternness in her voice. "You're  _texting_  right now?"

"What? I have to tell Patty and Will, and I didn't think it would be right to tell them before you guys found out."

Paige shrugged. "Fair enough."

"You know what's going to happen now, right?" The behaviorist asked, his voice taking on a mischevious tone.

"Oh no," Florence said.

He cocked his head at her. "What?"

"I just know this is going to be something weird."

"Well, as I do not like to disappoint," Toby smirked, "I present the following scenario to watch for. Amber and Caleb grow up completely separate from each other, meet in college, and fall in love before they realize she's actually his aunt."

The long silence in the room was broken by Happy. "Stop it."

"What?" Toby shrugged. "Could happen."

"Um, ew," Sylvester said pointedly.

" _Ewwwww_!" chorused Tad and Ellie, neither understanding what they were reacting to.

Paige was slowly shaking her head. "Oh God, we're gonna be on something hosted by Jerry Springer."

"Aw, no we won't, Mom," Ralph said, his tone light while giving her a pat on the shoulder. "He will be long dead before any of  _that_  happens."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Wanna throw out a few disclaimers here – there is no actual sexual content in this fic. Just like when I had Ralph dating Owen in my Serendipity – verse fics. Ralph is only about thirteen on the show, and while a few things are obvious here with his ex being pregnant, the content that is actually written for Ralph is going to be appropriate for how old he is right now in canon even though he's seventeen here. I was going to leave the last sentence of this chapter for the next one, but I wanted to get where I'm going with this out now in case it's something you don't want to read. If this makes you uncomfortable, not reading this fic isn't going to hurt my feelings as long as you aren't nasty about it.


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